Ore no CONPANION ni nare
by rebecca85
Summary: AU. Rei finds himself at the high lord Hiwatari’s ball, dressed in a gown. Things really start to go awry when Rei bumps to Hiwataris’ only son and heir. KaiRei, BorisYuriy, TakaoMax. Part of KaRe wave.
1. Ch1: Utsukushii Himehimi

6.1.2008

Reposted 21.9.2008. Beta by alexandriel, Kuro-chan and me.

Summary: AU. Rei finds himself at the high lord Hiwatari's ball, dressed in a gown. Things really start to go awry when Rei bumps to Hiwataris' only son and heir. KaiRei, BorisYuriy, TakaoMax. Part of KaRe wave.

Izur is the capital of Sacarn. Sacarn on the other hand is a big and prosperous country located between India and Africa. And it doesn't exist.

Disclaimer: I have 41 episodes of Bakuten Shoot Beyblade 2001 but that doesn't make me the owner of the series. This is just a devious plot to make Rei wear women's clothes; he certainly won't give me any monetary profit out of it. I fear his revenge.

This story is part of the KaRe wave. Join in or take a look at the participants at the KaRe wave forum. You can find it from my profile of from the Beyblade forums. This particular story will be updated on Sundays, every other week.

Warnings: Shounen ai, which means love between boys. Some swearing, and there might be het. Probably not but there's always the possibility.

"Nothing would ever get done if it weren't for the last minute."

* * *

Be My Companion

Chapter one: The Fair Princess

_by rebecca85_

* * *

Once upon a time, in a land far, _far_ away... was where Rei wanted to be right now.

Yes. He admitted that the Hiwatari Castle was very nice with its beautiful tapestry, grand chandeliers and old oil paintings of former heads of the prosperous family. Rei even noted with interest that bluish grey or silver hair and purple or even pure red eyes were often represented in the frames.

Even the event itself wasn't so bad. It was for Princess Hiromi's honour, though Rei hadn't actually _seen_ the girl even once during the evening. The reason might have been the absolutely overwhelming masses of other Very Important Persons of Izur. Actually it seemed like the Hiwataris had invited almost half of Sacarn, not just the capital's big names, which wouldn't even have been that surprising. They would've certainly fit in the house. Ah, my bad. In the _Castle_.

But the less than fantastic aspect was the overly enthusiastic dance partners. Rei had no idea that it was so _difficult_ to politely decline a dance. They just kept coming until Rei had no choice but to escape the ball room to finally get a sit down.

_This is all An-wen's fault_, Rei thought glumly as he plucked his long glove a bit higher on his arm. What had he done so wrong to get into this mess? He had to admit that seeing the world outside his house was very thrilling, but maybe he should've thought this through a little better.

—Flashback—

"_So, Rei," a blackhaired teen, An-Wen, smirked to one of his brothers. "What are you going to do?"_

_Said young man fiddled with the lace of his dress' sleeve and chewed his lip. He knew now that he shouldn't have played this stupid new game with his brothers, but it was too late. The bottle pointed towards him again and it was his turn _again_ to do a stupid stunt. He should've listened to his senses when he was forced to dress into a pale pink, frilly dress, but _no_, he had just continued the game. Now he was dared to spend an entire day dressed up as a girl, but the kicker was the world outside. As Rei had been sick a lot as a child, he had never left the large premises of their mansion, but at his age of seventeen, the grass on the other side of the fence started to look rather green._

"_Fine," Rei sighed, resigned to his own curiosity. "I'll do it."_

"_Really?" Rei's 19-year-old brother, Qian asked thrilled. This worried Rei to no end. Even Hong-Xian was smiling mischievously! And Hong-Xian was the oldest of Rei's six older brothers, already 28!_

"_Well, I have no choice, now do I?" Rei asked exasperated and huffed in his frilly outfit, making it clear to his brothers that he didn't want to dress up. They didn't seem fazed though, and just looked at each others, grinning like a herd of cats that had just caught the flock of canaries._

"_Okay then," Chen said business-like, rubbing his hands together. "It's only two days until the party, so let's get you ready!"_

—End Flashback—

"Chen-san…?" said an uncertain voice down the corridor. Rei's head shot up in surprise. _I've been found!_ Quickly and as quietly as he could in a pair of high-heels, Rei got up from his chair and fled. He had found that a really, _really_ good part of the Hiwatari Castle was that it was as huge as its name indicated. _A Castle_. Rei was in another passageway in a flash, as the annoying young man that Rei recognized to be one on his dance card, was left to wonder if it really had been him that had made the little noise, and if so, which of the three doors had he used.

Rei sighed in relief as he heard the man leave the room he had just been. But, he couldn't stay put just leaning on the door. They would find him, sooner or later, if he remained this close to the ball room. And then he wouldn't get away with a simple 'I have to go to the toilet' –excuse this time.

Making a quick assessment of the hall he was in, he decided to continue to walk further in to the castle. _Away_ was the new pink.

As Rei wandered the soft cream and peach coloured hallway that was (once again) decorated with paintings, he let his mind take a stroll on Memory Lane. He was actually _very_ disappointed with his mother. Any normal teenager would think that she would've been against this let's-dress-Rei-in-drag –day, but… A wave of sadness tightened Rei's chest and made his heart tinge with worry.

Yes… In the end, it was actually for his mother that he had gone through all this.

—Flashback—

"_Boys," said a gentle voice from the doorway. "What are you doing to poor Rei?"_

_Said males turned to look at the frail petit woman, who was gracefully holding her large, silk scarf that was resting around her arms. Her black hair was crafted in to a soft, lush bun decorated with pearls, and she was wearing a simple green dress that also had pearls, lining the seams and giving her an elegant touch. Though, you could tell by the air she had about her that she was a woman, who could pull 'elegant' even in a peasant's outfit._

_Rei tried desperately to turn to her too, but noticed that Tianbao's hold of his hair wasn't as light as it seemed. So he settled for trying to see the new-comer via the mirror in front of him._

"_Mother!" Hong-Xian breathed, shocked and worried. He quickly strode over to her. "What are you doing here? You were supposed to be resting for the afternoon in the pavilion."_

"_I heard the commotion, Hong-Xian," she smiled sweetly. Then her eyes sharpened and she focused her somewhat gleaming, golden-brown eyes on Rei. The poor boy somehow got the feeling like this was his last chance for a break-out. Unfortunately, Tianbao hadn't let go of his hair for a second._

"_Now, I want you to tell me what you aredoing to your little brother?" she asked more sternly, and Rei almost beamed with glee as his brothers seemed to gulp at the same time. An-Wen didn't seem as scared as the rest of his brothers, though._

"_We played a little game of dare. Rei accepted our dare and now he's being prepared for that," An-Wen answered dutifully._

"_What is this said 'dare'?"_

"_To attend the upcoming Hiwatari ball, dressed as a girl, mother," he continued truthfully. Her eyes narrowed at this and she shifted her gaze to evaluate the situation in the room. Her clever inspection stopped at Rei._

"_This won't do," she announced finally. Rei 'whooped' silently in his head. Maybe he could go just as himself. "That dress is a completely wrong colour. It doesn't bring out Rei's natural beauty."_

_Rei froze. Or at least he froze as much as he could, with the grip on his hair keeping him already in place quite efficiently. This was not exactly what he had been expecting from the woman who had single-handedly raised him._

—End Flashback—

Rei sighed again. He should've known that a woman who had seven boys and had always wanted a girl but couldn't have one anymore due to her condition, was dangerous territory. In the end, Rei's only saviour had turned out to be his worst adversary. Their mother had been _thrilled_ to be finally presented with an opportunity to dress someone up. And more specifically, dress Rei up, since he had the most feminine features among the seven brothers.

Rei suspected that she had just restrained herself until now. _And_ he suspected that An-Wen knew this.

It was actually quite sweet of An-Wen to give this to their mother. She had been more energetic than she had been in _months_. And it actually wasn't that bad, being dressed up as a girl and such. He had never been in any social gatherings; it wasn't like anyone would recognize him. It was just that…

"Shit!"

…he really could have lived without the shoes. Really, no-one would've noticed if he'd put on his own low-heeled shoes, the dress was long enough to touch the floor. But _no_, he had to put the damn stilettos on his feet. Rei just thanked whatever gods were still listening to him that he had a _very_ good natural balance. It was just that his feet were becoming decidedly sore.

Taking the next turn, Rei was looking desperately for a place to sit. Unfortunately, all the chairs seemed to have taken it upon themselves to get as far away from the cross-dresser as possible. The rest were probably hiding in the private quarters of the castle or in the room of eternal pain and humiliation. It also went with a name 'ball room'.

"Oh, for the love of my feet… _Where_ can I find one freaking chair?" Rei muttered to himself. His courtesy was slowly fading with the anxiousness of finding a resting place. He was going to _kill_ his mother, his brothers (one by one) and just for the heck of it, his father for giving his mother only male children. As soon as his father came back from his business trip to China, that is. Damn ambassadors…

"Whoa!" was all Rei could utter as he stumbled. He had tried to open a door in his quest for a smooth surface, just to find out that you _push_ it open. Apparently someone had tried the same thing just to find the door jammed. This other person also seemed to be stronger that Rei, as the door had in fact opened despite the neko-jin's most dedicated efforts to pull.

"What are you doing here?" rumbled a man's voice in Rei's ear. He noticed then that he was being held up by a strong arm around his waist while he was resting comfortably on the man's chest. (That's why the voice had sounded so weird, Rei noted absentmindedly.)

"Ah!" Rei scrambled hurriedly away from the man who, strangely enough, looked surprised. "I didn't mean to… ah… well…" Rei was now blushing beet red under the man's scrutinizing gaze. He hurriedly took his fan that went with the dress and tried to hide behind it. Without actually looking like he was looking, Rei peeked under his bangs to glance at the now silent man. He was still staring back at the raven haired cross-dresser, measuring him up and down with a piercing red stare. Rei quickly looked down and wished his fan covered up his flushed state.

_This is _not_ good!_ Rei thought frantically. He had taken a glace at the slate haired youth, remembered the paintings he had stared for a good fifteen minutes just a moment ago, and put two and two together. This man was one of the Hiwataris. And judging by his age, he was the Only Son he had heard people talk so much about. _Damn!_

"What's your name?" the Hiwatari asked suddenly. Rei blinked a few times, but as the man was still staring at him, concluded that he had heard right.

"Uh… Chen Mao," he bowed slightly before remembered that he was supposed to be a girl. "…tono," Rei added midst of his curtsy. The Hiwatari started to sneer at this.

"So you know who I am?" he asked lazily, whilst smirking at Rei the whole time.

"Um, yes," the neko-jin admitted. "You are one of the Hiwataris," he felt compelled to add. The man's posture emitted power now, and knowledge of said power. He took a step over the threshold which in turn made Rei back up hurriedly. Rei did _not_ want to be found out to be a boy in girls' clothes by the host of the ball. He would be in _so_ much trouble if he did. Not adding the actual humiliation of being found cross-dressing, of course.

"Yes. I am Hiwatari Kai. The sole son and heir of the High Lord Hiwatari Mikhail," the man announced proudly. Rei was beginning to doubt whether this Kai person was actually being serious. Who introduced themselves like that?

"But I don't recall the Chens attending the ball…" the Hiwatari heir drawled. Rei flushed with panic. He hadn't expected to run into a man who even knew the guest-list by heart!

"Well, no. They—we didn't. Not really. I'm just visiting my uncle's family and I accompanied them, to this ball," Rei recited hurriedly his cover-up story. "The ambassador, Kon Tai-Hua is my uncle." This deserved slit red eyes to look at him. Rei was really starting to get nervous around this guy.

"Maybe I should go… My bro-- cousins must be worried of me." With this Rei whirled around to turn to where he had come from, but a strong hand took his wrist and jerked him back. Taken off-guard, Rei stumbled backwards, straight to the Hiwatari's chest and an arm wound its way around the raven haired youth's waist again. Rei did not like being this close to a stranger.

"Why were you here?" a low voice asked him, the breath ghosting over his ear. Rei shivered in fright.

"I-I was just looking for a toilet," he rushed to explain. The man 'hmm'd behind him and, if Rei wasn't entirely wrong, breathed in Rei's scent from his hair. The neko-jin was officially freaked out by the other man's behaviour.

"Then you're going to the wrong direction…" the heir breathed into his ear again. Tightening his hand around Rei's waist, he pointed a direction away from the ball room. Rei nodded in understanding.

"Ano…" Rei asked after a silence, trying to be as polite as he could. "C-could you let go of me now? Tono." The Hiwatari seemed to pause slightly before letting Rei go. He made a quick curtsy, and without even looking if it had been received, dashed through the hall. _These Hiwatari men are _weird!_ I have to get out of here._

* * *

"Come on…" Rei coaxed sweetly. "Come here… come to Rei… Here kitty, kitty, kitty…" he made a soft purring noise to get the poor cat to relax and let him carry her back to ground. She was their neighbour's precious Persian feline, but she had the oddest tendency to climb to _Rei's_ tree and not go back until he took her. So to get his tree vacated, he was (once again) coaxing the cat to come to him so he could extract her from his private sanctuary.

The feline finally decided to let him touch her and stepped gracefully in to his arms. Rei rolled his eyes at the animal. He normally really liked cats, but this girl was not on his top ten. She just gave him way too much trouble all the time, and actually thought it was cute how she invaded his tree all the time! The neko-jin sighed and took a good hold of the furry animal. Then he dropped his legs to dangle on one side of the branch, leaned back to fall, and with a somersault, landed softly to the ground, crouching a little. He dusted his blue, baggy pants – just in case – and headed for their neighbour's territory.

Rei loved to go visit the old house near theirs, but he knew that he would just spend the whole afternoon there, so he only walked to the border of it and shooed the cat back home. The journey wasn't that long, only about half a mile or so, and he really liked the old man who owned the feline, but Rei's mother didn't want him to wander too far off. It seemed like letting him go to the ball was almost too much for her and she now wanted to keep Rei within calling distance.

Rei couldn't actually blame her. As he was the seventh son their mother had given birth to, the pregnancy hadn't gone exactly smoothly. He had been prematurely born, and resulting from his mother's weak condition, he had had very weak lungs. His mother blamed herself for it for some bizarre motherly reason and had always sheltered him from anything and everything a mother could. Of course Rei didn't suffer from any physical problems anymore, after taking care to keep his body in good shape, but that didn't ease his mother's worry.

The raven-haired youth decided to run back to his house, not feeling so territorial anymore. He would rather find his mother and take some more lessons on the exotic languages she knew. He loved it when he could spend his time with something interesting as well as challenging, and best of all, spend it with his mother. The tree would wait for him tomorrow.

Quite wind-swept by the run, Rei arrived to the house. When he had climbed the wall surrounding their inner yard, curiously, he saw a fancy carriage standing on their driveway, but dismissed it as some business with Hong-Xian. After all, his eldest brother was taking after his father and was already half-fledged ambassador. Deciding to take the 'back door', Rei skipped up the stairs and jogged lightly towards his room. He heard his mother's voice from the parlour and happily headed that way. But as he was ready to push the door open, he heard a man's voice which he unmistakably recognized, and Rei froze.

"…was told that Tai-Hua could solve this problem," Hiwatari Kai finished.

"I am terribly sorry, sir, but my husband is on his business trip to China for at least another two weeks. If my eldest son, Hong-Xian could help you in any way…" Rei's mother, Kon Lin apologized politely but the Hiwatari interrupted her immediately.

"No, that won't be necessary. I don't believe he even _could_ be of assistance; this is something only your husband can do. Unless, of course, Hong-Xian holds all of Tai-Hua's papers as well as his abilities," he added, but didn't sound the least bit hopeful, only slightly sarcastic, which made Rei frown.

"May I invite you to dine with us, so that your journey hasn't been made for nothing?" Lin inquired politely in the form of a hostess. Rei held his breath in the short silence that followed.

"I would be honoured to, milady," the Hiwatari replied politely and the eaves-dropping teenager could almost hear him being pleased. That oddity aside – what was Rei going to do now? He couldn't go to said dinner without being found out, and something told Rei that he_ did not_ want to be found out. So he slowly crept away from the door and dashed silently upstairs. There, he almost had a run-in with An-Wen.

"Where's the fire, little brother?" he asked jovially.

"I told you not to call me that, _big brother_," Rei gritted out but kept his voice low.

"But it suits you so well, _little brother_," An-Wen teased. Rei hated the fact that every single one of his brothers could call him that. It was unfair! Oh, for the love of— he didn't have time for this.

"An-Wen, I'm not coming to dinner, ok?" Rei said quickly. His brother raised an eyebrow.

"Any particular reason?" he inquired lazily. Rei bit his lip. He somehow didn't want to tell one of his adversaries of the embarrassing situation that had occurred at the Castle, two days ago. He wouldn't hear the end of it.

"I need to train," Rei blurted out hastily. This time An-Wen raised _both_ of his eyebrows.

"Your funeral. Mother will not be pleased," the loving older brother said with a casual shrug and walked his way downstairs. Rei sighed in relief that his brother was _so_ caring. This way he didn't have to lie more than was absolutely necessary. He sucked at lying.

Quickly going to his room and changing to his training gear, Rei ran out of the house, the back way. He made an acrobatic jump over the wall to save the time of climbing and ran to the forest. He would go visit his tree, after all. And then train like there was no tomorrow.

See, Rei actually hated lying. To anyone. That's why he was so horrible at it when he tried to. But now, Rei was trying to make amends of his false story and make his lie the truth. Although, this would be a lesson for telling lies that he wouldn't easily forget. His mother would be furious with him, going into the woods, alone, to train, and to directly disobey her. But, at least he would avoid running into that Kai-person.

Rei shuddered at the thought. That man was probably the weirdest character he had met in his life. He just hoped that things would be back to normal after this day and he would never see the Hiwatari heir again, just like before. Rei would die of embarrassment if he ever had to face him again. Rei wasn't stupid; his costume might've fooled everyone of his gender, but it would fool no one of his identity.

* * *

Rei sighed deeply as he dragged himself back home as the sun started to set. The day wasn't exactly over yet, but dinnertime was long gone and he felt hungry and tired after running around in the woods all day, jumping, leaping and punching. He started to have pretty good muscles already, but he still felt he needed to work on his stamina. He got tired too easily for his own taste.

Rei dearly hoped he didn't have to tell his mother _why_ he had suddenly abandoned their family dinner and chose to break his promise, not even telling his mother, just running into the woods. He would be so grounded... He didn't even have any excuses about going out to see a friend because Rei only knew his own family and the old grandpa who had a Persian cat, and was maybe acquaintances with the milkman. He didn't particularly care for finding friends; he preferred to keep his mother company when he was bored.

Maybe he should consider finding himself a hobby?

Rei pondered this as he walked languidly on the road to his house. It was getting darker soon so he had thought it best to walk on even ground and without constant obstacles. That was all he needed; a twisted ankle just after getting his mother furious. Finally, he began nearing the gateway to his home when he realized that there was someone, a figure of a silhouette, leaning against the brick wall, a horse near-by happily eating the grass. The man (it had to be a man, Rei thought) was half hidden in the shadows the rays of light the setting sun cast behind the few trees placed around the road, so Rei couldn't see him well. The youth neared the figure that stood up from the wall as their distance shortened. Rei raised a hand to block out the sun's rays to get a better look at the man, but before he could ask what business he had at their gates, the figure spoke.

"Well, well, what do we have here?" said a deep, undoubtedly smirking voice that made Rei's blood run cold, and the neko-jin froze in fright.

"Chen Mao, is it? Or should I say, Kon Rei?"

* * *

tono : feudal lord


	2. Ch2: Isamashii Oujisama

20.1.2008

Disclaimer: I disclaim.

No chapter warnings. I had to make few adjustments to the first chapter. Nothing changed much. It got betaed. This one is betaed too. A thank-you to MiDemoni for noticing that teeny tiny word mistake I had there. You have good eyes, my friend.

Sorry about the Japanese words, I'm trying to get a point across. Let's see if I succeed.

This story got the best responce ever amongst my other stories, so I humbly thank you all for your kind reviews. Please do so again, they are a rather nice prompt to get me writing more slightly faster.

"Fairytales do not tell children that dragons exist. Children already know that dragons exist. Fairytales tell children that dragons can be killed."

* * *

_"Chen Mao, is it? Or should I say, Kon Rei?"_

* * *

Be My Companion

Chapter two: The Valiant Prince

_by rebecca85_

* * *

Rei knew instantly that his cover was blown. The Hiwatari heir had called him by his real name and was obviously enjoying the discomfort it caused to the neko-jin. Rei hardly noticed that he had taken two steps away from the man.

"W-what are you still doing here?" the raven-haired teen managed to demand. The High Lord's son only seemed the more amused.

"So you knew I came, Rei," he said, sounding delighted. The Chinese boy frowned as he noticed his own mistake in choice of words. Deciding that he couldn't save _that_ situation anymore, he wanted some answers.

"How did you know who I was?" The other man only smirked more profoundly.

"A matter of just asking your dear mother, _Rei_," Hiwatari said gently, but sounded sarcastic and condescending. The other bristled. He felt like the High Lord's son had just tried to insult his mother. Or even had, he wasn't sure which. "Chen Mao isn't visiting your family at the moment… She hasn't been in Sacarn in years. Kon-san tells me that you would know how to take contact with her, but I highly doubt that, _Rei_." What was the Hiwatari's fascination with his freaking name?! Rei felt like he was repeating it every time he had the chance!

"I knew the Kons had seven sons," the slate haired man said and pushed himself from the wall. "After I had had dinner with your family, I knew the only son missing was Kon Rei," this time he started walking towards him, and Rei instinctively took a step back before he held his ground. The Hiwatari stopped right in front of him and looked him in the eye. "To think that you could disguise as a woman…" he murmured thoughtfully and Rei felt his cheeks tint with embarrassed red. "That certainly explains—"

Rei had had enough with the man's incoherent musings. "What do you want?" he interrupted quickly. "Look, if I have offended you in any way with my cross-dressing, then I apologize, but it was _you_ who sniffed my hair, _I_ tried to keep our distance," Rei reminded the other, thinking that he was angry by his actions to another person who he then discovered to be male. The heir slit his eyes at this, and Rei gulped. Was is just him feeling a bit cold or did he just say something very wrong?

"Just answer the question, _tono_," Rei gritted out nervously. "What do you _want_?" He was already on the brink of giving up on talking civilly with the man. He didn't like these kinds of surprises. He felt very cornered, embarrassed and defensive. Lashing out verbally was just covering up his fright; he knew it but couldn't help it and was starting to panic. _What is he after?!_

The Hiwatari heir tilted his head slightly and gave Rei a scrutinizing look. It felt like he was checking up on the raven head. Then he seemed to come to some sort of a decision as a ghost of a smile tugged the man's lips, and he was smirking again.

"You."

Rei's golden eyes widened. _WHAT?_ "Y-you… You want _me_?" he stuttered out stupidly. There were certain things that you had to verify first before believing that, yes, you heard right. The man's smirk vanished and he was all business again.

"Yes. You're coming with me," he confirmed and half turned to walk to the gate. "Unless, of course, you'd rather that I tell Princess Hiromi that someone lied of their identity to the crown and thus has committed high treason?" Rei froze, dread welling up inside him. He hadn't known that. He hadn't even thought of committing a crime when using someone else's name.

"And may I remind you that high treason includes the criminal's family, also. The whole Kon family might get deportation," (A dramatic pause) "If you're lucky." This said, the Hiwatari left Rei gaping in horror after him as he nonchalantly collected his horse from its short-lived freedom.

"What are you planning to do?" the raven-haired youth managed to choke out. This was _not_ how things were supposed to be. Kai glanced over his shoulder.

"Not that I should explain myself, but you are coming to the Hiwatari Castle with me, immediately. I don't have a companion, and I want one. You'll do fine," he smirked and gave a once over to Rei again. The neko-jin was speechless. Weakly Rei followed the Hiwatari heir to the Kon Manor, his own home, to say goodbye to his family.

* * *

"What are you saying, Rei dear?" his mother, Lin asked, puzzled and not believing her ears. Her son was going to leave the house? Now? When Tai-Hua wasn't even at home to address this matter?

"Yes, mother. Hiwatari Kai here has offered me a place as his companion, and I have accepted. It will be a good opportunity to… see more of the world, mother." Rei tried to sound cheerful, but it was killing him. He had lived with his mother all of his seventeen years and didn't know anything about the world outside. He wasn't exactly keen on learning with the Hiwatari heir at his side.

"I will take good care of your son, Okusama," Kai assured.

"But my son is turning eighteen in four months. For such a short time—"

"My parents will be gone for long periods of time right now. They are inspecting the borders and I believe there are issues with the immigration as well, which will need attending to. If I'm correct, your husband will be heavily involved with those as well."

"Well… yes. I believe he might accompany this exposition in near future," Lin agreed slowly.

"I only thought that it would give me most fruitful insight to have an ambassador's son acting as my companion while I must spend excessive amounts of time on my own. And as you have so wisely pointed out, Rei will turn eighteen in four months and he will be released from his duty. With your permission, I will take good care of your son this while and try to give him beneficial knowledge on how the world revolves, Okusama." With this he bowed and Rei's mother was speechless. Kai really knew his politics, and she had nothing to say in the matter anymore. If she resisted further she would only look impolite and crude. Her son himself had agreed to this and had already accepted the post. What on earth was there for her to do anymore?

Rei wanted to just walk to his mother, give her a reassuring hug and tell her that everything would be fine, but the High Lord's son had a death-grip on his elbow so he couldn't move an inch. He really, really wished for Hong-Xian to walk in and save him with the political crap the eldest brother knew and loved in his position as the next ambassador of China, but he hadn't seen any of his kin, save his mother, after they had came in.

"Rei, dear… If you are certain of your choice, then I will not halt you…"

Rei gulped. This was his last chance to convey to his mother that he wasn't exactly willing to go with the man at his side, but the Hiwatari squeezed his elbow a little harder, and Rei had to bite the inside of his cheek to stop himself from voicing out a protest against the hold. "Yes, mother. It's a very good opportunity for me, don't you agree? And it's only four months, don't worry. And I'm sure you can come—" The Hiwatari gave him a painful squeeze again. He wasn't even allowed to _see_ his mother in that time?! "I'm sure I'll be fine. Hiwatari-dono will take good care of… me, mother." Rei swallowed hard. He was lying through his teeth; he had no idea what kind of a person Hiwatari Kai was, but at the moment he seemed like a total prick, a conceited obocchama who was used to get exactly what he wanted. The very character Rei almost definitely knew he would hate.

"We must be going then, Okusama. My castle is some way off, so we must hurry if we want any daylight for our journey," Kai suddenly interrupted the longingly melancholic mood that was forming between the mother and son. This jerked Rei out of his thoughts and he looked at the Hiwatari incredulously.

"_Now_?! We are leaving _now_?" he hissed.

"Yes. There's no need to stall. The ride back won't be very safe or quick if we stay dilly-dallying here much longer," the other murmured back. "We shall be off, then," he nodded to Lin and started to guide Rei out of the manor.

"But, but… I… My clothes. I need to take—" Rei spluttered before he was interrupted.

"You don't need to take anything with you. I will provide any necessity you will think of; anything you had, I will buy them new," the arrogant Hiwatari stated whilst he finally got Rei out of the house. Lin was following them at a distance, tugging her scarf in a worried manner more tightly around herself, not knowing what to do or say.

Kai gathered his horse from the stable hand that had stayed with him for the time they were inside, and helped Rei hoist himself up on the horse's back. Then he turned one last time to Kon Lin, bowed and thanked her for the honour she was willing to grace the Hiwataris and mounted the horse, sitting behind Rei.

Lin came to stand on the lowest steps, but knew that it was unwise to approach a strange horse without any warning, and thus stayed at a distance. But Rei could see the worry written on her face, plain as an open book for him to read, and he felt deep sadness at leaving his mother alone, now that his father was in China. His brothers were there for her, yes, but… she always worried about him. How was he going to set her heart at ease? How could he take her worries with him as he went? He didn't know the answer to these questions, since he had never left her alone for more than one day, when he was training extensively in the woods. But he tried. Despite everything else, he wanted his mother to feel at ease.

"Don't worry, mother. I'm a big boy now. I'll be fine. Don't worry," the last one was almost lost from his mother as the Hiwatari heir gathered the reins and guided the large animal towards the main road, to head away from the Kon Manor, the only home Rei had ever known in his life.

* * *

Rei felt numb.

He hadn't wanted for his mother to worry too much and thus had left the real reason out of their last conversation. He just hoped it really wouldn't be their _last_ conversation. He just knew that he was treading the next four months so far away from his family, from his mother, and that he felt horrible about lying.

Being a companion was usually a job for orphans. Mostly orphans from famous families, so that their background was respectable enough to be fit as a lifetime companion for some rich, lonely child. If not, they were most often given land and a title to ensure 'good company' for the rich child. They were taken in to the foster-family early on, trained properly and they spent their lives solely for their 'master', their companion. Companions were again masters of their own life when they turned eighteen. Usually they stayed with their master to serve as an advisor or being just a family friend. It was a great honour to be a companion in a world where the child's parents were dead and he would've had no place to go. The companions usually also tried to motivate their masters to have a good, prosperous life, since their own reputation would be measured by it to a tee, which was also why they were so popular among the rich and the famous.

But it was unusual to take a companion at the age of nineteen as Hiwatari Kai seemly had just done, but there was nothing Rei could do about that. His mother wasn't in the best of shapes and his father wasn't even in the country at the moment. He dreaded what would happen to his family if Kai suddenly decided to expose everything to the crown.

Rei clutched the saddle in a death-grip and stared at his hands without really seeing them. He missed his mother already and was on the brick of a mental break-down. But he couldn't do it in the presence of_this_ person – this Hiwatari Kai. The man, who had forced him to tell his family that he was leaving to be his companion, willingly, _by his own desire_, forced him to leave everything he owned behind, and just jump on the back of the man's horse. He couldn't stop the feelings of resentment forming towards the Hiwatari heir.

"What's the matter, little kitten?" Kai asked sweetly and a hard jaw was pressed on Rei's shoulder, trying to pry to his inner thoughts. Instinctively Rei immediately pulled his shoulder away from the face and narrowed eyes in anger as he turned away from him. This merely received an amused chuckle, which only helped to kindle the fire of anger a little bit more for Rei. (He had actually gotten quite a scare and was now angry with himself too, for being so easily frightened.)

"I'll say this once, so you better hear me out, _tono_," Rei gritted out. The Hiwatari heir only raised one curious eyebrow at him, but the new companion didn't see it and probably wouldn't have cared either way if he had.

"I may have agreed to come with you, in exchange of you shutting your flap. I may have even agreed to be your _companion_," he almost spat the title through his sharp fangs, "but I have never, and I mean_never_, agreed to do _anything_ you order me to. And I never will. _Understood?_"

Again, Rei's outburst seemed to only amuse the arrogant man; with the corner of his mouth slightly twitching, Kai only said nonchalantly, "Sure." Then he gathered the reins in one hand and wound the other around Rei, almost crushing him to his chest.

Rei took a surprised breath and felt a bit panicky. "What are you doing? Let go of me!" he immediately struggled against the hold, but the Hiwatari wouldn't budge. Just as the Chinese boy was sure this was just another idea for teasing him, Kai leaned to his ear again, and whispered with a low voice, "Wouldn't want you to fall off, now would we?"

Rei immediately turned his surprised eyes to his companion and saw Kai smirking. His brow furrowed in annoyance. It _was_ another excuse to tease him! His eyes narrowed. "Let go of me this instant or I'll make us _both_ fall off this stupid horse."

Kai looked astonished for a few short seconds during which he was obviously trying to decipher whether Rei was being serious, or if he could even manage such a manoeuvre. He seemed to come to the conclusion that it was almost too easy for the boy to lean heavily to the side on the saddle, disrupting their balance and making them fall, because his hand loosened and returned its hold on the reins.

"Suzaku isn't stupid," the Hiwatari said in a low voice. If Rei hadn't been so mad at him, he could've sworn the man was pouting.

"…what?"

"The horse. Her name is Suzaku, and she's not stupid." The raven-haired man gave him a Look, almost like measuring his mental health, but then turned away without commenting, prepared to spend the rest of the way admiring the scenery. But the High Lord's son wasn't satisfied with the silence, it seemed.

"You know, you aren't exactly how I pictured you to be, Rei," the Hiwatari said, and if Rei wasn't in the middle of dismissing the man completely, he could've described him as near civil. Now he just scoffed and gave the other a cold shoulder.

"Well, you thought I was a _girl_," Rei pointed out sarcastically. "A gender change is sure to make things a little different. Sorry to disappoint you, _tono_." (But he didn't sound the least bit apologetic.)

"Oh, no, don't get me wrong. You're _better_ than I thought, Rei," the man assured, sounding absolutely pleased with himself. And apparently with Rei. "But do call me Kai. Hiwatari-dono or 'tono' sounds like you actually respect me, Rei. And we both know that's not true," he continued with a smirk in his voice.

"You hit the nail right on the head, _Kai_."

Rest of the journey continued in silence. The sun had set just a little while ago, painting the sky with the last remnants of an orange hue, making it tinge with lilac and a hint of pink. Rei thought melancholically that the day was never going to end. He watched the horizon changing its colours, draining the lingering rays of sun as the flaming ball of light slowly continued its secret way to another continent.

Rei felt both mentally and physically exhausted. He had been training in the woods the better half of the day and then this whole black-mail business with the arrogant Hiwatari Kai had come along to ruin his day – and a good deal of his life! Gods, he hated rich, spoiled brats now! Keeping that thought in mind, he stiffened his posture and gritted his teeth to deter sleep from overcoming him. He would not sleep while riding with Kai! That at least was certain.

But as his thoughts continued to travel to home, to his dear mother and to his brothers; Hong-Xian, Kuai, Tianbao, Chen, An-Wen and Qian, his eyelids started to feel heavy. How he missed them already and how he wished… that he hadn't gone to the ball. How he wished… that he hadn't been so insatiable with his quiet home life. How he wished that he had… just continued to dance. How he hoped… that his mother… would be okay… without him.

As the night finally settled its heavy blanket upon them, Rei fell asleep.

* * *

tono : feudal lord

-dono : the suffix derived from tono, slightly more respectful than -sama

okusama : madam; married lady; lady of the house; someone's wife

obocchama : literally translates as 'young master'. Used of sons of rich families.

Oh, my dear god, Kai said 'dilly-dallying'… dies


	3. Ch3: Sono Otogibanashi

3.2.3008 (…the hell? Am I being futuristic?)

Reposted 17.9.2008. Beta by Kuro-chan (chibikuro rose-sama, if you want to find her), and I made a few alterations. Kuro-chan is great; she actually corrects _stupid English_ as well. I'm saved. Or at least this story is.

Disclaimer: You're even considering it?

"You can not make someone love you. All you can do is stalk them and hope they panic and give in."

* * *

Be My Companion

Chapter three: The Fairytale

_by rebecca85_

* * *

_As the night finally settled its heavy blanket upon them, Rei fell asleep._

* * *

The first rays of sun hit Rei squarely on the face. He scrunched up his face to get rid of the light and turned in his soft haven to block it out completely. But once a light had escaped under his eyelids, it was impossible for Rei to drag the blanket of sleep back on him. So he stayed under the covers, contently listening to the sounds outside and inside, while trying to determine the time of day. As if his thoughts had been heard, a clock started to chime further away and indicated that it was exactly five o'clock in the morning.

The only oddity that bothered Rei was that there were no clocks in their house that would chime. Their mother rarely got a good night's sleep, so every clock that may have interrupted her, was long ago removed from the house.

Plus, this definitely wasn't Rei's bed.

Blinking sleep from his eyes, the raven-haired youth rose a little from his haven and peeked from under the covers to take a look at his surroundings. He was in a grand room, the light coming from an open doorway to a balcony. The pale red curtains swayed softly in the spring wind. The room had a big mahogany four-poster draped with red, currently occupied by Rei, plush white rug covering every inch of the floor and a big cabinet that he guessed was the wardrobe, plus a dressing table. In the middle of the room were a small table and two chairs. Everything was made of mahogany and the red theme continued throughout the room.

_Figures_, Rei thought. _This must be one of the private chambers in the Hiwatari Castle._

There were only two doors on the room. One was the balcony door and the other was almost on the other side of the room. '_Must be the door out_.' Curiously, he noted that the room was round. No, not that it had a round taste to it, but it really was literally _round_. Was he living in one of the towers?

Tentatively, Rei slipped out of the covers and to the floor. He noticed that he was still wearing the same clothes as he did the day before, which meant that someone had carried him in while he was asleep, not that he just didn't remember doing it himself. His shoes were even placed neatly next to the bed. But who had done that? Rei's last memory was sitting on the back of the horse (Suzaku, right?), so he must've fallen asleep on the way, but who carried him here?

For a moment, Hiwatari Kai's smirking face appeared in his mind, but he quickly dismissed the idea. There was no way that arrogant bastard would be so nice as to carry him to his room, take off his shoes and even tuck him in. _No. Way._

_He must've just ordered _a servant_ to do it_, Rei thought with an annoyed huff, and then shivered in uncertainty. He didn't like strangers touching him, it made him feel insecure. In frustrated anger, he stomped to his night stand to pour some water from a pitcher to a basin to wash his face. Then he dried himself with the cloth that had originally been in the basin. Feeling refreshed, he decided to explore the famous Hiwatari Castle. After all, he had never seen its private quarters.

Slipping into his shoes, Rei headed for the door that led out to his expedition.

* * *

The halls were quiet this early in the morning. Only the kitchen should be awakening at this point, to start on the day's meals. Then, at half past six, the maids would start their silent cleaning of the rooms that were normally heavily used during the day. Or at least, that's what Rei had learned from his father as he had told storied of his business trips in other countries. It was the most common and the most efficient way to start the day for the staff.

Rei wandered about the empty halls, turning corners on impulse, trying to lose himself within the maze. He had tried that many times when he was in China to visit his father's good friend, Chen Kuai. Rei's second oldest brother was actually named after him. _'A great honour for him'_, Rei thought with an air of someone saying, "Well, good luck with_ that_."

Rei wasn't succeeding. He _still_ knew his way back. Actually, he guessed that he was now pretty close to getting out of the place, if the scenery outside of the hall-windows were any indication. He should probably just go out _that_ door, and… Ah, yes. He was out. In the back yard, it seemed.

The raven-haired boy took a look at the building that he was now blackmailed to live in.

The Hiwatari Castle wasn't _exactly_ a Castle, Rei noted immediately. It was just a really, really, _really_ grand manor, and it was just probably easier to describe it as a 'castle' than to take the extra time trying to convey the greatness of the building by stressing the word 'really'. The place was made of cream coloured stone with plenty of towers, windows and alcoves. It had a magnificent front yard, which Rei had fallen in love with a couple of days ago when they had visited during the ball, with its little forest inside the driveway and trees littered all over the ground. That way the beauty of the Castle came to you slowly, gradually behind the lush greenery, and you had time to devour it with your eyes.

But he was tired of watching the building for now, so Rei headed for the small area between the tree-line surrounding the Castle and the outer wall. He just didn't seem to get rid of the strange feeling of sluggishness before his morning training, so he decided to go over some movements now.

Concentrating, Rei cleared his mind and breathed deeply, calming and focusing himself. He bowed to his invisible opponent and slowly moved his other leg back, brought his other hand in front of him while bringing the other one close to his waist and balanced himself perfectly, taking his stand. As the right time came, he attacked, sending well trained kicks and punches to his adversary, making it seemed like a well rehearsed dance as he dodged, attacked, jumped and twirled.

The young Kon kept this going until he was panting for air and his muscles protested against the exercise. Then, he took another deep breath to calm himself, and bowed a thank-you. Looking around, Rei noticed that an hour must have gone by. The maids should be at their work soon, so Rei headed back to the castle to ask directions to a place where he could wash away the evidence of his workout.

Once inside, Rei actually did find a maid who told him the way to the baths. She had been… err… slightly surprised about him, but nevertheless, showed the way. Once he arrived there, Rei also noted that the Hiwatari Castle had showers. It was a luxury Rei had only heard about, something about using the water's pressure to make it flow up, or something like that. So, being a little daring, the raven-haired boy decided to use this accommodation to get out of there quickly. Rei wasn't exactly fond of being naked in an unknown territory.

Once he was again fresh and clean (well, excluding his clothes, but that couldn't be helped), he was startled by his _very_ loudly growling stomach. Only then did he realise that he hadn't eaten any dinner yesterday and was by now, _starving_. His hunger deciding for him, Rei headed to the part of the castle where he imagined the kitchen would be. While trying to find the right corridor he glared at them. _Somehow_, it seemed that every corner and hallway now had its own chair.

As he was getting little distracted by all the resting spots that only now had made themselves known and at the same time trying hard to think where the blessed nutrition would reside, he failed to take notice of his surroundings, and almost ran into a man. He was taller than Rei, obviously of Russian heritage. Being a Chinese boy, Rei would be glad to ever reach a height of 170 centimetres. This man was obviously even taller. (Some kind of a giant?) He had deep purple hair, streaked with lighter strands, which was combed tightly back. He had a piercing stare and a fierce look upon his face. Rei could tell immediately that this man had _no_ sense of humour and would probably take no nonsense. Judging by his neat black suit, he was a butler.

The man looked at Rei like he had confronted a cockroach and was thinking if he could sacrifice one of his shoes to get rid of it. The Chinese boy tried hard not to shiver under the stare. _Don't let it smell your fear!_

"Boy," the man spoke suddenly. "What are you doing here?"

"I…" Rei was a little taken aback from the sudden question. "Hiwatari Kai brought me here last night," he answered truthfully and decided to seize his opportunity by asking, "Do you know where he is?" The butler's eyes narrowed and Rei knew he was in trouble. He didn't know _why_ he was in trouble, but he knew he was.

"That is of no concern to you, boy," he said coldly, looking down his nose at him. Well, there was nothing to say to _that_. At that precise moment, Rei's stomach decided to make itself known. The boy reddened from the loud sound, but the butler only furrowed his brow even further.

"Haven't you eaten yet?" he asked.

Rei shook his head. "Not yet, sir," he answered politely. Oddly, speaking respectfully to this man came naturally to him, unlike when he talked to Kai. Maybe it was the age difference. Or the size. Or that he was terrified by this one. Go figure.

"Why didn't you eat with the servants this morning, boy?" he pressed Rei for an answer.

"I don't know where the kitchen is, sir," the Chinese boy answered meekly. This received a suspicious narrowing of the eyes, but then the man pointed.

"Through this corridor, turn right, follow the passageway and it's the fifth door on the left."

"I wasn't that far then!" Rei exclaimed happily. Then he glanced at the man and added with a more subdued voice. "…sir." He only got a curt nod as a respond that obviously dismissed him. Rei felt his spirits lifting as he almost skipped down the corridor, as quickly as he could get away from the man without seeming to be running.

"One moment." Rei's heart sank. What was it this time? He turned and dreaded for the worst.

"Get Mathilda to give you new clothes, boy. There are no excuses to dress in dirty clothes in here. Remember that." And then the man gave a contemptuous look at Rei, turned away and was gone in a swish of coat-tails. The neko-jin merely raised an eyebrow at the behaviour but soon found that he was more interested in getting some food inside him than the peculiar quirks of a butler.

As he was instructed, he found the kitchen in no time. The woman, Mathilda, turned out to be the head of the kitchen, the main cook. She gave him plenty of food (a little bit too much, actually) and ordered a maid called Becky to fetch him clothes. After Rei had eaten to his heart's content, he dressed up in the loose, white, woollen shirt with a fine waistcoat that was made from the same material as his black trousers. It actually looked very smart, even though it wasn't exactly Rei's type of clothing.

After he had eaten, Mathilda told him to help Becky to get some laundry done. Rei thought it was the least he could do after the breakfast that could've pulled off as a full-course meal any day. They both took a basket full of white sheets with them that were just outside the kitchens and treaded the quaint garden path to a large, wooden water-basin near a water entity that could have been a small lake or a big pond but didn't quite seem to be either. The basin was full of foaming soap-water and a number of people were already at their washing-boards, trying to get rid of the dirt on the cloths. Discreetly, Rei added his own clothes to the wash-load and got himself a clean outfit from it. He proudly listened to Becky's instructions how to dry them properly so that they wouldn't get wrinkled while hanging out.

The job of a maid seemed interesting enough (and it wasn't like Rei had actually something to do) so he decided to follow Becky around and help her with her chores. They cleaned a couple of rooms together with the help of two other maids, as was required, and Rei found out all sorts of things about the cleaning, the castle and the Hiwatari's. Becky seemed to be a bit of an airhead; forgetting random things, remembering even more random things and speaking in different languages (she also knew English, small phrases in Chinese, and some other obscure language that did her no good in this job. She did not, however, know Russian, which was a slight surprise). But all in all, she was a good teacher, telling exactly why everything was done like they were and why it was most efficient.

When it was nearing ten, she suggested that he go get his own laundry off the clothesline and take them to his own room to dry so that he wouldn't forget them there or that someone else wouldn't accidentally take them. Rei laughed a little nervously, caught. He hadn't thought someone would notice his 'clever' deceit. But when he had taken his own clothes, put them in a basket and headed to his own room, he ran into someone. Someone just descending the last stairs to his tower in a bit of a hurry. Rei's smile dropped and he stopped.

"Kai." It wasn't a question, it wasn't a greeting; he merely said the other man's name to show that he had acknowledged him and to let him know they were going to literally run into each others if the other wouldn't notice him. Kai immediately raised his eyes and stopped dead.

"Rei!" he breathed in incredulously, then a dark cloud seemed to pass over his expression, came back and camped there. With two strides they were almost nose to nose and he grabbed Rei's arm in a firm grip. "Where exactly have you been?!"

Rei looked at him a little taken aback. "I was…" he looked at the basked at his arms. "I was just washing my clothes," he explained happily. He didn't usually like to lie, but somehow he resented telling the truth to Kai even more. "You know, since _someone_ didn't let me bring anything else with me." He patted the surprised Kai on the cheek. "I guess I'll just have to accommodate."

He had meant to be sarcastic and make the arrogant bastard realise how exactly he felt about all of this, but he had not expected Kai to take his hand and grip his other arm so tight that he had to drop the laundry basket. He made a small protesting sound and tried to release himself but Kai held on tight.

"I brought you here to be my companion, Rei! You do not wander off without permission, without _me_, in your position!" Kai yelled. He was obviously very pissed off but as Rei couldn't figure out _why_, he lashed out right back at him.

"What did you expect me to do? Sit around in my room for hours just to wait for _your highness_ to wake up? Which brings me to the other thing; why is my room in a _tower_? Do you have some kind of twisted sense of humour or do you just fantasise about locking me up in a tower?" A guilty silence rang in the hallway and Rei was flabbergasted. "You _do_!" he breathed and thought he could see some redness on Kai's cheeks as he loosened his grip, shuffled his feet and cleared his throat.

"Come on," Kai said and almost started to drag Rei along with him when the neko-jin yanked his hand back. The Hiwatari heir frowned and tried to take his hand again, of which Rei dodged, and Kai tried again. It became some sort of a tug of war with Kai trying to grab Rei's arm and Rei not indulging.

Finally Kai snapped. "You are my companion. It's your _job_ to accompany me wherever I go and do whatever I say, so give me your hand and let's go!" be gritted out with frustration. Rei decided to ignore the give-me-your-hand –part.

"No. I'm here to _act_ as your companion and I already said yesterday that I will do _nothing_ you tell me to," he stated matter-of-factly and gathered his damp clothes to the basked again, leaving Kai clenching and unclenching his hands without a retort. But when he was starting his way back to his tower (maybe he could led it slide, it _was_ a nice tower, and all his) Rei thought how awkward his stay would be if things were like this. He stopped. He took a deep breath.

"...But sometimes people do things they don't really want to if you ask them nicely."

Kai lifted his face from his brooding but Rei didn't turn around. He waited if the heir would have enough humility for them to get along.

"Um… Co-could you… accompany me to breakfast?" Kai managed to say with the underlying note of uncertainty that screamed louder than words that this was the first time Kai was actually asking something. Rei waited in silence, barely containing himself, but there was the magic word still missing. "Well?" Kai asked wee bit annoyed.

"I'm waiting for the end of that sentence," Rei said calmly. There was a pregnant silence but finally Kai got it.

"...please?"

Rei turned to Kai and smiled charmingly, not noticing how Kai seemed to freeze. "No, thanks," the raven-haired youth said still smiling. This brought Kai back to Earth.

"What?! But you said—"

"I was_ saying_," Rei stressed out before Kai could get another word in, "No, thanks, I've already eaten. But you might be able to persuade me to lunch in a few hours. How's that sound?"

Kai seemed to pout for a bit. "Fine," he grumbled and then added like an afterthought, "Meet me in the dining hall at noon." Then he stomped out without a word. Rei considered this as a great improvement and decided to indulge him and be there. But for now, he headed back to his room, laid out his clothes to dry and went to help Becky to clean some more. She had promised to show him how to polish silverware and he was intrigued.

Maybe the life in the Hiwatari castle wouldn't be so dreary after all?

* * *

170 centimetres – 5'7''


	4. Ch4: Igaina Raihintachi

17.2.2008

Reposted 17.9.2008. Beta by alexandriel and Kuro-chan. And I, yet again, changed the flow of words a teeny bit.

Disclaimer: I shield of any responsibility regarding Beyblade. I would have NOT ended the manga like it did. _Gags_.

Thank you, reviewers! Although I sent you all a response, you don't get enough credit! My sole inspiration is to go through them all, blush deeply and hurry to the next chapter. Continue your encouragement, you sweet people!

This chapter is dedicated to everyone who reviewed, and as a special treat it's a bit longer than usual. Enjoy!

"Do not meddle in the affairs of cats, for they are subtle and will whiz on your computer."

* * *

Be My Companion

Chapter four: Unexpected Guests

_by rebecca85_

* * *

_Maybe the life in the Hiwatari castle wouldn't be so dreary after all?_

* * *

Rei couldn't believe that he would ever be in civil terms with Hiwatari Kai, but he had swallowed his homesickness and had dinner with him. They had had a lovely quiet evening together, sprinkled with idle small talk and good food. Rei had avoided subjects about his family, wardrobe, Kai personally or anything about kidnappings, and focused on the castle, staff and some cocktail parties that were coming up. They dined together regularly and he did his best to enjoy the company.

But then Kai found out what Rei had been doing with his spare time before their eating sessions, and he was furious. He immediately forbade every staff member from giving Rei any work and Volkoff (the butler Rei had met on his first day) had gotten an earful from the temperamental heir for mistaking the neko-jin as a servant. But when Rei found the staff avoiding him like the Black Death, Kai got his own earful from him. Rei shouted at the top of his lungs about not being able to do anything, talk to anyone or in any other way entertain himself while Kai was having his beauty-sleep or was otherwise 'busy'. The Hiwatari retorted to this like he always did that Rei should be with him at all times and exist only for him. This, of course, made the Chinese boy even angrier, until he ended up punching Kai and storming out of the room.

That had been four days ago.

They were still not talking to each other.

Kai was baffled about the situation which made him very testy. He couldn't even phantom the idea that _he_ was supposed to apologise when _Rei_ had punched him. So, he sulked. And tried with all his might to make his companion just as miserable. He scared the staff half to death with his threats of unemployment if they would as much as talk to Rei, and he was successful. Somewhat, anyway.

Now that everyone had come to realise Rei's real position in the castle, the staff would've normally kept their polite distance, but after Kai had had a word with them, they also tried very hard not to even have eye contact with the boy. Except for Becky. Well, she didn't talk to him either, she wasn't completely stupid, but she was most successful when helping Rei to get his mind off of the situation at hand. She would 'forget' some rags and detergent to tactical spots where Rei could pick them up and continue cleaning. He had found it to be soothing, relaxing and more importantly, time consuming. Kai was gritting his teeth every time he would find Rei cleaning, again, but he didn't know how the neko-jin got his hands on the stuff and he wouldn't talk to Kai anyway, even if the Hiwatari heir were to swallow his pride and start the conversation first.

Rei was completely content with the way things were. He didn't like being at cross with someone, but he enjoyed the silence and peace that was left when you take Kai out of the equation. Maybe it was a bit _too_ quiet (he had six brothers, remember?), but Rei quickly shook those thoughts away and concentrated vigorously on his work.

Then, at the fifth day of their argument, Rei decided to spend the afternoon before dinner polishing a chandelier. It was a bit tricky, since he had to stand on a ladder and it wasn't exactly a close-to-earth kind of job. Plus the thing was huge and had various little crystals hanging on gilded curves of metal. He was concentrating on a particularly extravagant designing when he felt someone watching him. It couldn't be Kai, since the man would always huff, turn and march away in annoyance upon seeing Rei. This person wouldn't be him… but who else would it be? Rei frowned at the design which stubbornly stayed stained and decided to just pop something out of his mouth to tell the other person he knew they were there. Who knows? It could be Kai. Best make it scathing then.

"Do you enjoy watching me polish a chandelier?" he asked levelly. That someone moved from the doorway and walked into the room.

"Well, the view certainly is pleasant," a man's voice said easily and Rei stiffened. This was not Kai. Nor was it anyone he knew from the castle. But somehow he didn't want to indulge his curiosity by taking a peek, so he focused once more on his job.

"Chandeliers are designed to be watched from below. I'm sure the view is stunning," he answered with the same uninterested voice as before. He heard snickering.

"Yes. The chandelier looks good too." This piqued Rei's interest. _'The chandelier looks good _too_?'_ Meaning that something else _beside_ the crystal ornament was worth looking at? By instinct he turned to see where this stranger might be looking at, but did so a tad too carelessly. His foot slipped from the step, slid through the gap wrecking his balance and then gravity took its destined course. Rei yelped as he lost his footing and started falling backwards. Instinctively he closed his eyes, waiting for the painful crunch his skull would most likely make upon meeting the floor. But the appointment was suddenly cancelled as strong arms quickly found their way beneath him and took him deftly in a rescuing scoop.

Slightly dazed and heart rate still speeding with fright, Rei breathed a few times heavily before looking up to see his knight in shining armour. The man had lilac eyes, which Rei noticed immediately. His hair was a little lighter shade of said same lilac, his nose was a bit aquiline which made his face uniquely straight-forward looking and gave it masculine gravity. Rei's dazed eyes returned to the man's deep lilac ones and read amusement, surprise and a dissolving worry from there.

"I'm sure the kid knows how to stand," said an annoyed voice behind the man. Rei blinked and upon realising his position, started gathering his equilibrium.

"The poor guy almost just had a date with destiny there, Yuriy. I can't just dump him on the floor and get on with it. Where's your compassion?" he asked the other one, but Rei had the slight inkling that he was hearing a teasing undertone, like the lilac-haired man wasn't really serious and might just do as he said. (Thankfully, he didn't.) He shook his head while the man helped him into a sitting position on the floor, propping his back to his bended knee, crouching next to Rei.

"Thanks…" Rei said quietly. "I must've slipped… Wasn't careful enough…" he shook his head again and took another deep breath. He was quite shaken, but physically seemed to be just fine. Then someone stomped to stand right in front of him, crouched to his eye lever and peered into his eyes. Rei found himself staring at a startling pair of ice-blue eyes, framed with effeminate features and a fiery red hair.

The man frowned. "He seems fine to me. Can we go now?" He sounded snappish and annoyed, and the Chinese boy vaguely wondered the reason.

"Yuriy…?" he asked to confirm the man's name. Immediately the red-haired man's nostrils flared and he looked absolutely furious.

"That's _Ivanov-sama_ to you, you insolent servant!" he bellowed, eyes flashing icicles. Well, at least Rei wasn't imagining his anger, this Ivanov-guy seemed mad with fury, and the neko-jin was more than slightly taken aback. The lilac-haired man scowled at this.

"Yuriy, be quiet! If you can't behave, get back to the carriage and I'll come get you when you've calmed down a little. Understood?" he bit out, irritated. Immediately Yuriy straightened up and looked at him incredulously, but only moved back a couple of strides and decided to stay silent.

"I apologise for my companion, he must be tired from our journey. My name is Boris Kuznetsov, but you can call me just Boris," he introduced kindly. Rei felt like he should recognise the name, but as he couldn't think of anything right at the moment, he decided on the polite way of conversation.

"My name is Kon Rei-- I mean, Rei Kon," he corrected hastily when he remembered that you introduce your surname last in Russia, which he deduced this man was from. "I…" He hesitated to say it. He didn't _want_ to say it. But he felt like he should explain to the man resembling a red lightning storm that he wasn't _just_ a servant. But as he was still opening and closing his mouth, Kai stormed in.

"What in the name of— Yuriy?" he stopped at the entrance, after spotting the sulking man. His eyes moved to Boris and he seemed flabbergasted for a moment. Then he saw Rei and he was kneeling beside him in a couple of strides.

"Rei? What happened? Why are you here?" He glanced at the chandelier, the ladder, their position and saw in an instant what had happened. His face grew dark. "Where did you get those supplies?" he asked quietly. Rei twisted upright, away from Boris, to sit more on his own. He was actually just fine, now that the shock from his almost-death had almost worn off. His defiance was returning with a rush.

"Found them lying around. I had nothing better to do," he answered dismissively then turned to Boris who was looking at their exchange with mild interest. "Thank you for catching me. I like my head just the way it is," he grinned a little to him to show that he had enough wits about him for joking. Boris smirked a little in response. Now Kai finally seemed to take him into consideration as he moved his not-entirely-friendly gaze to the man.

"Boris," he acknowledged. "Why are you here?" And straight to the point.

"For the party, of course," Boris answered with a slight surprise, like it was a very dumb question and Kai should've naturally known the answer. But it seemed like he didn't.

"Party? What party?" he questioned, furrowing his brow. Boris raised an eyebrow.

"For Princess Hiromi's birthday party, of course. You haven't forgotten that she turns eighteen, have you?" Kai stared at him.

"Boris… That's in two months." The said man shrugged.

"Well, I had nothing better to do in Russia, so I thought I'd come to see how my best friend is doing. Besides, you know Russia in spring. It's the season of cold blizzards and wet snow, my friend. Sacarn will keep me a lot drier so I thought, why not? Might as well take a little holiday since we'll come here anyway soon." Kai was still looking at him suspiciously, glanced at Yuriy who was pointedly ignoring them, and then decided to let it drop. He extended a hand to Rei, who promptly ignored it and got to his feet on his own, Boris safeguarding him should he get any dizzy spells.

"I'm fine, really. Thank you for the help," he said to Boris and turned to climb back on the ladder. To his surprise, both of his arms were immediately grabbed by another, one belonging to Kai and the other to Boris. He looked at them both in turn, baffled.

"You are not getting up there again," Kai said authoritatively.

"I agree," Boris said as well. "You only just fell; you shouldn't go to anywhere high today." Rei felt like he should argue, he felt like the chandelier _needed_ him; there were still artistic curves to polish and crystals to wipe… but then decided against it. He actually did quite fancy his head in one piece so maybe he shouldn't temp fate twice a day. Mutely, he nodded to the two and he was released. There was a dumb silence after that.

"Right," said Rei. "I'm going to take this stuff to the kitchen then—"

"Leave it to the servants, Rei," Kai said, dismissingly. The raven-haired youth rounded on him.

"I _am_ a servant, so why shouldn't _I_ take them?" he bit out. The Hiwatari heir resembled a storm cloud again, thunder flashing and all.

"You are _my_ servant then, Rei. I tell you what to do and I'm telling you now that you _don't take them anywhere!_"

"And I told you that I won't listen to anything you tell me to!" he yelled right back at him. "So leave me alone _or let me go home_!" For a while they were engaged in a fierce staring contest, Boris and Yuriy watching them with amusement and disdain. (No need for guessing which adjective belonged to whom.) Then Kai relented, averting his gaze. Boris raised an eyebrow.

"Fine," he said. Rei's heart leapt.

"I can go home?" he asked hopefully. Kai glanced at him and turned away.

"No. I'm willing to leave you alone, but you are still my companion, as you will be for the next three and a half months. Keep that in mind, and try not to kill yourself again." Then Kai walked out, nodding to Yuriy as a greeting, but otherwise ignoring his new guests completely. Rei felt dejected. He was doomed to spend his last months as a seventeen year old in the Hiwatari Castle and apparently nothing he did or said could change that fact. He sighed, and then started to collect his cleaning items to return them to Becky. Then he glanced at Boris.

"Umm…" he hesitated. "I don't know which rooms you get but I could send someone to guide you, if you want?"

Boris over-rode his question completely. "Do you need any help with those?" he asked and strode over to him. Rei blinked a couple of times, dumbfounded, then handed a bucket full of water to him.

"If you could take this, it would help." Boris smiled charmingly and took the heavy container from Rei who took all his three rags of various shades of grey and a couple of bottles of detergent. Then he started his way to the kitchens where he would most likely find what he was looking for, Boris walking beside him and Yuriy fuming somewhere behind them but following anyway. He felt like the whole situation was a bit surreal, but decided to go with the flow. Boris at least seemed only too happy to help, so why not?

* * *

After they had disposed of their load, Rei found himself stuck with a smiling stranger and his… servant? He glanced uncertainly at Yuriy and was shocked when the redhead stuck a tongue out at him. Maybe the man wasn't as old as he had thought… (Yuriy _was _a male, right?)

"So, umm… Boris-san? Who…?" he started asking uncertainly but didn't know exactly how to phrase the question that would satisfy his curiosity. He tried again. "I mean… Why…?" No, that wasn't it either. He motioned to the man walking five metres behind them. "Yuriy is…?" he asked quietly and left the question to be self-explanatory. Boris seemed to ponder the question for a while, admiring the paintings and decorations of the hall while they walked around the castle, which surprised Rei a little. Was there some kind of ambiguity about their relationship?

"He's my companion," Boris said then, he voice oddly steady and void of emotion. He seemed to loose himself in thought as they continued their way through corridors, hallways, ballrooms and grand staircases, talking in monotone, like it was a speech so many times repeated that he knew it by heart. "I'm the second son of the Kuznetsov family. I was eight when Yuriy came to be my personal companion when his parents died. We have been together for over ten years."

Rei mulled this over. Yuriy's life seemed like a dictionary explanation of 'companion.' Boris wouldn't probably mind if he made further inquiries. He didn't seem the type.

"So, you have a brother?"

"Andrey. He's twenty."

"And you are…?"

"Nineteen."

"How old is Yuriy, then?"

"Seventeen."

"So he was six or seven when his parent died?" Rei asked, shocked.

"He was just turning seven when they died from an infectious disease. It was unavoidable and untreatable. He was an only child."

"Poor guy…" Rei murmured sadly. "I would be devastated if my parents would just die like that."

Boris hummed. "Maybe. But he was only six at the time. He doesn't quite remember them anymore. Time does wonders to our wounds, they say."

"So he's alright now? He's told you that?" Rei asked anxiously, glancing at Yuriy from time to time.

Boris smirked. "You sound more interested in him than in me. Should I get jealous?" he teased. Rei stammered at this sudden accusation and blushed slightly. He was being a bit rude, asking about someone outside their conversation, wasn't he?

"So, my turn," the lilac-haired man stated. "Are you really Kai's companion?"

Rei averted his eyes. "Yes."

Boris raised his eyebrows. "It's a bit weird age to take a companion… How old are you?"

"Seventeen," Rei sighed.

"So you'll be leaving Kai soon? In three and a half months, he said?"

"Yeah, that's the plan. How's Yuriy? Do you know his plans after he turns eighteen?"

"And we're back to Yuriy…" Boris sighed dramatically. "He's with you. Leaving like a pack of wild dogs were at his heels when the midnight strikes. Has already planned out his future," he said dryly, but Rei could almost swear he heard a deep sadness veiled underneath the sarcastic comments and theatricals.

"But you don't want him to leave?" the Chinese boy observed quietly. Boris stopped and cast a surprised look at Rei. He glanced at Yuriy, who had stopped to examine a vase, seemingly unaware of their conversation, only trying to keep his distance. The Russian aristocrat seemed to resign himself.

"No," he said, pain flashing in his eyes, briefly glancing at his companion again.

"So you do get along then?" Rei wanted to confirm. Their bickering didn't seem exactly like a warm and fuzzy relationship, but he wasn't an expert.

"We do— we, we did," he corrected, sighing. Then Boris seemed a little peeved again and he raised his voice just so Yuriy could hear him. "But he's so damn stubborn!" The redhead raised his gaze to frown towards them, then turned on his heels and marched away without a word.

"Stubborn?" Rei confirmed as they continued their stroll, now heading outside. Boris seemed to have wanted to drive Yuriy away, so he didn't comment on that.

"It's nothing," he waved a dismissing hand over the matter. "I still have time to persuade him otherwise. But enough of that, I'm more interested in you. How come you're here when you so obviously don't want to?" Rei sweatdropped. He couldn't really tell the real reason, now could he?

"Kai… gave me an offer I couldn't turn down, that's all," he said quickly, then hastily changed the subject. "Are you hungry? You just came from a trip, right? I could whip you up something, if you want? I'm sure you're starving, right? The kitchen's this way!" and he was off. Boris only shook his head and followed at a more sedative pace, admittedly intrigued. Not every acquaintance he had would _make_ him something. More likely they would just order anything he wanted or anything the cook was ready to make. This should certainly prove to be interesting.

* * *

"So then, while I was there, standing like a fool, trying to ask believable questions, Kai left the apple on his desk, _with_ the worm inside it," Boris just finished, grinning.

"No way! And you got away with it?" Rei asked, eyes sparkling with excitement at the story. He was very keen on every detail the Russian man told him about his days in school with Kai and Yuriy, because Rei himself was home-schooled. He found the amazing stories of dull classes, dangerous adventures and intriguing knowledge extremely fascinating.

They had picked a garden house deep in the lush greenery to eat in peace. Rei couldn't believe how well they got along. He had thought that all rich obocchama were spoiled rotten and utterly evil. Spending an hour with Boris though, had made a complete one-eighty on his opinion.

He had learned various things about Russia, mostly concerning how the man knew Kai. It appeared that the Kuznetsov family were very highly ranked among education. They had a whole research branch for efficient education, not to mention the highly ranked school-systems they had founded and how many respected doctors and officers graduated from there. It seemed that the Hiwataris and the Kuznetsovs had a long history together, because it was traditional for the Hiwatari family-members to be educated in private schools in Russia. That way they kept in touch with their roots, history and language, while getting the best education they could get. The usual choice for them was the Kuznetsov Academy which of course gave more name to it as they could brag about having taught the leading family of Sacarn.

After Boris had told him their superficial history in school, he had started relaying their off-limits-from-adults –history of the time he, Kai and Yuriy had been on in the same class. (Yuriy was younger then the two, but as a companion had been compelled to participate in the same form. And he had faired quite well, actually.)

"I see you two are having fun," said a deviously light voice suddenly. Rei ceased his chuckling immediately and looked up to see Yuriy stepping gracefully on the stone slabs leading to the garden house. Real surprise was when he noticed that Kai was following him, and he and Boris watched in silence as the two sat down on the other side of the little round table.

"Were having an enjoyable bite of food, yes," Boris answered coolly and neatly sliced himself a piece off his pancake, pierced a small strawberry to go with, dipped it in syrup and ate the whole delicious bite. He hummed contently to the taste and added with an empty mouth again, "You make excellent pancakes, Rei. Could you make more for me for breakfast?"

"Uhh… Sure," the Chinese boy answered, a little taken aback.

"Rei did these?" Kai asked suddenly. "I didn't know you could cook," he added suspiciously.

Rei regarded him coldly. "You never asked," he said simply and took a sip of water. Kai frowned but didn't retort.

An awkward silence joined them like a fifth wheel.

Rei looked unsurely between them all, but couldn't figure out what to do. He himself wasn't talking to Kai, and he had no idea what was going on with Boris and Yuriy. From what he had heard, they were the best of friends but something had obviously happened for the two to treat each other with a sort of deigned disdain.

Suddenly a slow grin spread over Yuriy's face as he wound his arm with Kai's. Rei raised an eyebrow. Kai glanced at the attachment but let it be. He even seemed to take a more comfortable seat now. _'Odd couple,'_ Rei thought but was interrupted when he found a strawberry in front of his nose.

"Here you are, Rei," Boris said with a warm voice, offering the red fruit perched between his forefinger and thumb. Rei would've gladly taken the piece and eaten it, but it was so close that he would have had to pull back a little, which seemed a very awkward manoeuvre.

He glanced at the Russian man who was happily expecting him to take the strawberry, so he just mumbled, "Uhh… Thanks," took a hold of Boris' hand instead to get the fruit. The man's fingers were a little red from the juice, so he licked them clean while he was at it.

The temperature dropped close to zero.

Yuriy was glaring daggers at him and Kai resembled his usual dark storm-cloud. Boris had a slightly evil smirk of victory dancing on his lips that Rei was actually startled to notice.

Had he just done something he shouldn't have?

* * *

5 metres is about 5,4 yards (16'5'').

* * *

TBC… on March 3rd.

Funfact: As I asked from a Russian friend of mine how you would spell Yuriy's name in English so that it would seem like a Russian name (it's Yuuri originally but that's really a Japanese name), we also found out that Boris' name is actually pronounced as B_a_ris in Russia. So, if you feel weird calling him Boris because the dumb dubbers put that as Volkoff's name, call him Baris out loud. That way we get by… : )


	5. Ch5: Shinzuru no Kiken

2.3.2008

Reposted 17.9.2008. Beta by Kuro-chan, and I looked it through once more.

Disclaimer: I claim this disclaimer to be mine. Mwaha.

Yeah, sorry, the date was wrong. I'm supposed to update today and not tomorrow, but I think this is just a plus, right? And again, the longest chapter yet. (About 4500 words) It just got a little out of hand… And it won't be pretty.

This chapter is dedicated to three persons, who are Bluumberry, Sleepy Sheep Guardian and Little Myy. I dedicate the length of this to Bluum; I hope it gives you inspiration! I dedicate the ending twist to Sleepy; thanks for the advise, this is your fault. _(laugh)_ And I dedicate an action that Boris does, to Little Myy. She'll know what I'm talking about. _(wink)_

Warnings: Pain inflicted. And hints of yaoi.

"Most of the great triumphs and tragedies of history are caused, not by people being fundamentally good or fundamentally bad, but by people being fundamentally people."

* * *

Be My Companion

Chapter five: The Danger of Trust

_by rebecca85_

* * *

_Yuriy was glaring daggers at him and Kai resembled his usual dark storm-cloud. Boris had a slightly evil smirk of victory dancing on his lips that Rei was actually startled to notice._

_Had he just done something he shouldn't have?_

* * *

The next morning Rei woke up like usual around six and spent about an hour on his workout routine. He jogged around the whole castle (which took a surprising amount of time) and then did various exercises to build up a little muscle. He forwent the fighting this time, and focused on his lack of stamina. And, like he was now used to do, he took a quick shower and dressed in his servant's clothes he had stashed away under his mattress, so that they stayed unwrinkled and hidden from Kai.

Next he headed straight to the kitchen to have some breakfast and then he went outside to help with the laundry. No one talked to him or looked at him, but Becky silently handed him a washboard to use.

When the morning began to wane into a full-blown day and Rei had snatched a feather duster, he could be found from one of the smaller libraries fighting off dust-bunnies. He also spent a great deal of going through the volume-titles he found from the selves and even picked out a couple to read as they sounded interesting. And that's how Boris found him that morning, head tilted to one side as he concentrated to read some of the English titles and absentmindedly brushing them with the duster from time to time.

"Hardworking, I see," he commented to let Rei know he was there. The Chinese boy just hummed in response, obviously still in his own word deciphering a title. Boris walked beside him, tilted his own head to see what he was looking at and translated out loud, "Unabridged collection of the works of William Shakespeare." Rei almost jumped a mile at his voice.

"Sorry, didn't mean to startle. You were just so focused," Boris explained but didn't seem too sincere, since he was smiling. Rei regarded him a bit suspiciously, remembering the disturbing evil grin from yesterday, but decided to drop the matter for now.

"I have some trouble with English. Especially with the little harder words like _unabridged_…" he mumbled as an explanation.

"I see," Boris answered politely like a real conversationalist. "Have you found anything interesting?"

"Just a couple of books. One is about Japanese mythology and the other about history of Sacarn."

"Quite heavy reading, isn't it?"

"Not really. I've always been interested in mythology, it's fun to see what people have made up and still believe in, and I know Chinese mythology from cover to cover already, so…" he shrugged and let Boris end the sentence on his own. "And I've been away from home for quite a while, so I need to refresh my memory on some subjects. Mother always says it's best to know history to be able to see forward properly," he explained. Rei kept his face decidedly blank and his voice light for he knew that otherwise the homesickness would make itself known.

"So, what do you usually do at home? Surely you're not cleaning there too?"

Rei turned back to the shelf and proceeded to dust the rest of the books. "No, we do have a maid. She does all the cleaning, but I sometimes help with some minor chores. Usually I just spend time with my mother, though."

"Doing…?" Boris inquired as he took a seat by the fireplace in a comfortable armchair, watching Rei bustle with his feather duster.

"Well, usually she'd teach me something. She's taught me everything I know and more. My brothers help sometimes… It's fun when we all gather around and everyone tells theirs own view of things," Rei smiled. "Then we might take a walk outside, we have a beautiful garden and the forest behind the manor is wonderful, then we eat together of course, sometimes I make the food since mother really likes my cooking and we're both always eager to improve my skills, it's fun when we cook together…" he trailed away, but shook himself quickly back to topic at hand. "Then we might play some Wéigī—"

"Wéigī?" Boris asked immediately. Rei turned to him.

"Oh, right. It's Go or Igo in Japanese, do you know it?"

"Now, do I!" Boris said excitedly. "I've been wanting to learn that game for ages, but there just isn't anyone who would be skilled or willed enough to teach me."

"Then do you want me to show you how?" Rei asked. Boris smiled charmingly.

"That would be wonderful. Do you think we could get down to it immediately?"

"Sure, why not," the ebony-haired youth shrugged. "I'll just finish this and take the supplies to – err… where they belong," he corrected, trying to avoid exposing his source.

"Magnificent," the Russian man smiled and rose up briskly from his seat. "Shall I accompany you or should I go on ahead?"

"Errr… I'm not sure where the board is. I know I saw one here a while ago, but I'll have to ask Becky if she knows which we could use. I think you should come along, that way we don't have to keep running around this place looking for each other," Rei grinned. He quickly dusted the few shelves he hadn't before with sure and efficient strokes and then they headed for the kitchen. Rei did find Becky there, which was actually quite fortunate as she usually was cleaning other rooms in the castle by this time. Of course, he could've just asked someone else, but with Kai on the warpath, he wasn't sure if they would even acknowledge his presence.

Becky told him that a board could be found in four studies around the place, but the most secluded one was at the west wing and the sun wouldn't shine straight at them at this time of the day. Rei got specific instruction how to get to that particular room and where exactly he could find the Goban, and they were off.

The study was comfortably large with sofas and armchairs settled around enough for a bigger party. There was an old piano in a dark corner of the room but it had a cover on to protect the surface from dust and sunlight. Like in almost every room in the castle, there was a big fireplace in it, but the hearth was clean and looked unused. All in all, the room had a very deserted look upon it, and Rei realised why the maid had recommended it. That girl really knew her business.

A bit of a motherly feeling washed over the Chinese boy as he regarded the room, and with a determinate huff he marched to the windows and pushed the curtains aside to get more light in the room. He tied them nicely on to the sides and opened a window to let the spring air filter the room. Now it had a bit more lived-in feeling to it.

Rei went to the big mahogany cabinet and searched from the left side of it, as he had been instructed. There, under the shelf that held a chess-board, was a big Goban with legs and two containers for the stones. He handed the Goke to Boris and heaved the golden-tinged Go-board out. He set it in front of two armchairs and took a rag from his pocket to wipe it clean.

"Okay, before we play, I need to explain some things about Wéigī— I mean Igo. Best if I use Japanese terminology, it's more used worldwide than the Chinese one," Rei told him. Boris sat down mutely, setting the wooden bowls on the table and just waiting for the Chinese boy to tell him more.

"This table is called a Goban, the Go-board. These containers are called the Goke, and the stones inside are Goishi. There are black and white stones and, unlike chess, black starts. With equivalent players, the black will be decided with nigiri. I'll tell about that later. Now then, I'll show you how to capture a stone first!"

Then they spent the whole noon going through basic tactics and rules. Boris was quick with learning and by early afternoon they could play a handicapped game. But when they had finished it with Rei winning again, the Russian man leaned back in his chair and sighed.

"This game really is big on strategies, huh?" he commented idly. The Chinese boy nodded as he cleared their game off and sorted the stones back into their containers. Boris watched his moves with half-interest. "Would you mind doing those delicious pancakes again, Rei?"

The raven-haired youth raised his surprised gaze to him and said smiling, "Sure, but I have something even better." Boris raised an eyebrow.

"Even better?"

"Well, since it's this late already, why don't I just fix us something proper to eat, what do you think?" The other man blinked.

"You can prepare a real meal?" he asked, still blinking owlishly. Rei laughed lightly.

"Sure I can! You stay here and practice some moves. I'll be right back," he said and gracefully vanished through the door. Boris looked at the board but then only settled himself more comfortably and chose to enjoy the peace in the slow breeze.

Meanwhile, Rei skipped happily to the kitchen area. He was overjoyed over being able to talk with someone and just relax in a good company. He liked to talk. Because when he stayed silent long enough, he would start to withdraw in himself more and more. But just as he was thinking over the menu in his head, he found that the kitchen was empty. Except for one person.

Rei was rooted to the spot when he realised that Kai was sitting on the table, idly throwing an apple in the air and then catching it again. The red eyes of the Hiwatari heir slowly trailed over Rei as they both regarded each other. But then the arrogant obocchama looked again outside the window and ignored the other. Rei stood his ground for a while until it really seemed like he wasn't going to get talked to this time and first tentatively, then with more confidence behind his movements, moved to take out pots and pans and the needed ingredients.

When Rei had gotten their lunch underway and had lost himself in thought about the next Go-move he would teach Boris and what spices he should use, he had completely forgotten that someone else was in the room. The only warning was the warm puff of breath on his neck, before Kai spoke.

"You really do know how to cook," he said, sounding a bit surprised.

"Of course I do," Rei huffed and continued his stirring.

"Are you going to eat all this by yourself?" Kai asked calmly, but was starting to irritate the Chinese boy with his closeness.

"No, I'm eating with Boris," he replied testily. The only warning he got was the soft growl from Kai after he heard that name. Then Rei felt an arm sneak around his waist and another take a hold of his jaw. His head was forced sideways, so that he was looking straight in to the fiery red eyes of Kai.

"What are you—?!"

"You two seem to get along really well," the slate haired youth gritted out, drowning any protests. "Are you sleeping with him too?" Rei thought he must've been joking and just tried to struggle free. He did have two arms free, so he used them to help releasing his jaw but to no avail. Kai tightened his hold and turned his head a bit more so that Rei winched in pain.

"Answer me!" the heir bellowed, and for the first time Rei thought that he might actually do something to him, to hurt him. He looked at Kai, for the first time with fear in his eyes and almost panicked with the instinct to get away. His expression must have startled his captivator as Kai looked astounded for a while and his hold loosened, which gave Rei the opportunity to instinctively hit him with his spatula on the side of his head. Kai released his hold and stumbled away a little, but the neko-jin's defence mode didn't wane and he desperately tried to keep a long distance between them, holding his only weapon, the spatula, as a guard in front of him.

Kai realised that he had done something he shouldn't have. Maybe even something that was now beyond repair. Rei was terrified of him, and wouldn't let him get any closer. Resigning to defeat, he exited the kitchen, still holding his head where he would most probably get a nasty bump.

Rei let out a huge breath and finally his legs gave away. He wasn't even sure why he panicked so much, but he had never been big on strangers disrupting his personal bubble, let alone threatening him with physical pain. With his hands still shaking, he gathered the meals on two plates and placed them on a cart. He also remembered to take some water and bread with him, but couldn't think of anything else, the thought to leave the kitchen area immediately pressing in his mind. Rei was afraid of meeting Kai again.

Boris noticed that Rei was absent-mindedly handing him the food, and realised that something was wrong when he tried to pour some water and failed on the third try.

"What's wrong?" he asked quietly. The Chinese boy shook his head.

"Nothing," he lied. Boris almost snorted and made a snide comment about said 'nothing', but then decided against it. It wasn't his business and Rei didn't want to talk about it. They started eating in a tense silence that bothered the Russian man to no end, so he started a conversation.

"So, Rei. You're Kon Tai-Hua's son, right?" he asked lightly. The fork midway to Rei's mouth froze and he looked startled at Boris.

"Yes, how did you know?" he asked astounded.

"I've heard rumours that he has a son that has never left home. And a quite handsome one at that, they say," he mused smiling. "Must say that the rumours don't give you enough credit, Rei," he smirked, but only got a blank look in return. He sighed. "I mean that you're good-looking, Rei. I'd have to admit that you're actually hot, even if reluctantly."

The young neko-jin processed this information for a couple of seconds, until he flushed deep crimson and averted his eyes to his food.

"You're just exaggerating, Kuznetsov-san. You don't mean that, stop teasing me," Rei disparaged shyly.

"And now I must say that you're cute as a button. I'm not lying and I'm not exaggerating. Just telling the blunt truth when you seem to be clueless about your own charm," Boris said matter-of-factly and sipped some water. "And call me Kuznetsov-san once more and I'll gut you."

Rei looked at him startled and was again reminded about the small wicked smile he had seen yesterday. But then Boris smiled.

"_Now_ I'm kidding, Rei," he said soothingly. Somehow the Chinese boy wasn't sure if he should believe it. To be on the safe side, he decided to get to the bottom of the names. He didn't like calling complete strangers by their given names after knowing them for one day (although, Kai was an exception, that bastard) so he was obviously hesitant.

"Boris-san," he tried tentatively.

"You called me that yesterday and I let it slide. Really, just Boris is fine," was the answer, but now Rei was seeing the seriousness radiating from the man. Had he been playful the day before on purpose? Was Rei really this easy to fool? But no, that couldn't be it. Not everyone he met at the castle could be bad.

"Boris…" The said man nodded approvingly and patted Rei's knee.

"See? That wasn't so hard," he smiled. "Now, could you tell me why you're here if you really don't want to be? How on earth did Kai get you stay here against your will? Don't you want to go home?"

Rei was a slightly taken aback by the abrupt questioning, but his nerves were failing and he felt panic starting to drive him. He had to give answers or Boris would be mad; that's how he felt. So, compelled to please, he told everything that had happened with his brothers and their dare. He told about his mother, her wish, her enthusiasm, and then what had happened at the ball with Kai. After he had got all off his chest, the atmosphere seemed to calm down a bit, and Boris was sitting more relaxed on his armchair. He regarded Rei with veiled calculation which baffled the Chinese boy to no end. What was there to be calculating about? Finally the Russian man seemed to come into a decision and he leaned forward.

"So what do you think about Kai?" he asked calmly.

"Errr… He creeps me out," Rei confessed, remembering about the incident at the kitchen. "He acts all high and mighty, thinking that he knows everything and trying to control everything but in actuality is just lost. That's what I think." Boris took his time to digest the information again and then leaned back once more.

"I think you're right, Rei," he said and explained, "Kai really is somewhat of a control freak, that I have to admit. And that precisely might be the reason why he's interested in you."

"Eh?" Rei tilted his head in confusion.

"See, you're something that he can't control and something that doesn't respond to him like he expects to, so he feels compelled to try to get control over you. So the fact that you're rebelling against him with such vigour is actually the exact thing that's making you seem interesting to him. You said that you left immediately when you met at the ball, right?" he confirmed. Rei only nodded mutely, speechless about this revelation. "Well, you do know that he's probably the most wanted bachelor in this country, don't you? So of course he was intrigued by you when you didn't fall to his feet and beg him for a dance. You have to admit, you weren't acting very lady-like in that situation."

"You mean to say…" Rei asked with growing horror, "…that this is _my_ fault?!" Boris calmly nodded.

"It's like dangling a toy in front of a child and then giving it to someone else. Because Kai really is still just a kid, Rei."

"I'm… a toy?" he asked incredulously. The Russian chuckled.

"The very epitome of one," he grinned with a little slyness. Rei sighed and flopped back on the armchair and tried to process the information. So, because he had tried to conceal his real identity from the Hiwatari heir, he had managed to not only reveal it but to also get into the great mess of high treason and all that other crap that had come with it. _'Just bloody wonderful,'_ he sighed.

"So, is there something that Kai doesn't know about you?" Boris asked suddenly very casually.

"Eh?" Rei was out of the loop yet again.

"You said that he thinks that he knows everything, I was just wondering if there was something that made you say that?" he answered nonchalantly.

"Ohh, right. Well…" Rei thought for a while. "I just assume that there are a bunch of things he doesn't know about me since he hasn't asked anything. We talked a bit over dinner before I hit him," (Boris raised an eyebrow) ", but I avoided any subject that would start a fight, so we didn't talk much about my family. My family is everything to me, so if you don't know about it, then you don't know me," Rei ended with an emphatic nod.

"I see," Boris said understandingly. "But there really isn't anything that isn't related to your family that would be about you? Are you sure?" he pressed.

"Well…" The neko-jin thought hard. "Hmmm… I can't swim," he noted.

"You can't?" Boris asked, slightly surprised.

"No. I hate water, you see. There was this incident when I was little where I got stuck to some aquatic plants and almost drowned. I haven't been near water after that. If I can't feel the bottom, I get this sort of a panic attack," he explained sheepishly. Boris hummed in response, stroking his smooth jaw with pondering movements.

"Then I've always had a weak body since I was little," Rei told him. "Because of that my father taught me martial arts to help develop a stronger body so that I wouldn't get sick all the time. I'm still training every morning, but since Kai's always sleeping then, he doesn't know about it. I'm also an early riser," he added.

"This is good," Boris answered and managed to befuddle Rei completely.

"… It is?" he asked carefully. In response, the Russian man took Rei's hand and guided him to sit on the sofa, so that they could face each other properly, but didn't let go of his hand.

"We could be friends, you see," he explained earnestly. "You can tell me anything you want to, Rei. I'll always be here to listen." Rei smiled a bit more at ease, and relaxed his mask of happiness to show him the wariness underneath.

"Thank you, Boris. I really appreciate it. I don't know what I would've done if you hadn't come here," he felt tears prickling the corners of his eyes. "I've been feeling so," (Rei tried to suppress a sob) ", so _alone_…" but then he couldn't hold back anymore and he started sobbing helplessly, tears streaming down his cheeks. Boris stroke his hair comfortingly and then pulled him to his chest to let Rei cry to his hearts content. Presented with the opportunity, Rei relaxed in the embrace and let all his frustration, home-sickness, fears and loneliness flow.

When he had calmed down enough, Rei was ashamed to notice that he had completely ruined Boris' shirt. But just as he was thinking of apologising for it, the door opened, and Kai stepped in, Yuriy in tow. Embarrassed of his break-down, the neko-jin quickly turned away and half hid his face to Boris' chest again. What he didn't know was that his action didn't look exactly innocent.

"I see you two are enjoying yourselves," Kai commented dryly. Boris smiled serenely at them and put his hand protectively over Rei.

"Of course we are. Rei is always such a pleasant companion. Would you mind trading with mine, seeing as you two get along so well?" he asked innocently, but the sarcasm wasn't lost to anyone. Not even Rei, who wondered what was going on. He tried to look at Boris or question what he meant, but the Russian man held him securely against himself so that he couldn't move from his position.

"Looks like you've gotten yourself a real man-whore as a companion, Kai," Yuriy commented disdainfully.

"Seems that way," Kai answered coldly. "We'll leave you two alone, wouldn't want to disrupt your _precious_ time together," he almost spat out. Rei's breath caught his throat. He could almost feel the hatred directed towards him. He wanted to correct the situation, but he couldn't move and his face was pressed against the fabric of Boris' shirt which would muffle any voice he would make. Plus the situation seemed so surreal that he wasn't even sure if it was actually happening. He waited anxiously for what would happen next, his heart going a mile a minute and his breath starting to come unevenly.

"Please do," the lilac haired male said calmly and Rei gasped. "You did interrupt us…" he added slyly and slid his hand to Rei's hair. Boris saw how all colour escaped from Yuriy's face and his jaw tightened. With a hard look upon his eyes, he quickly left the room.

"Dinner is at six," Kai said and gave them a one last glance before leaving the room, slamming the door close behind him. Then Boris released his grasp on Rei to let him sit up again which he did, only to notice that the man was suppressing laughter while watching the door. Then he lost control and the room was filled with amused, melodic baritone vibrating from the walls.

"Why…," Rei started desperately. "Why did you do that?!" he shouted in distress.

"Why?" Boris asked amused, but then his whole demeanour changed and he looked almost dangerous with fury. He took Rei's face in a death-grip to look him closely into his eyes. "To get Yuriy jealous, of course. Why else? Did you really think that I give a crap about Kai's whore?" Rei's eyes widened and he forced himself free. He stood up to get some emotional space between them. He had just revealed everything about himself to his man!

"I'm not his whore!" he yelled. "I may be his companion, _against my will_, but that doesn't make me a… a… a man-whore!" Boris regarded him coldly.

"I don't really care what you are as long as you're useful to me. We have some issues with Yuriy and I need to make him realise that it's not that easy to give up on someone," he said, malevolence evident in his voice.

Rei breathed heavily. He… hadn't even imagined… not in his wildest dreams… that people could be this cruel. Holding back his tears of betrayal, he turned on his heals with every intention of getting out of the room, but Boris moved faster.

"Oh, no you don't," he said as he grabbed his arm, and held him securely in place.

"Let me go!" Rei fought against him. "I have nothing to do with this, right? I don't want to be here, **let me go**!" Now fresh tears spilled to his cheeks and he desperately tried to free himself of the death-grip he was in.

"You're not going anywhere," Boris said with calm anger. "Yuriy needs to think that we're actually doing something in here. The longer we're here the more suspicious it will look, and I'm going to give him plenty to doubt about." Then the Russian man forced Rei on the sofa and fought off his hair-ribbon.

"What are you doing?!"

"I need to make you look a bit more realistic," he explained with a frown and mussed the raven locks. Then he stroke Rei's lips with a hard thumb while the Chinese boy tried to turn his head so that he wouldn't reach him. Suddenly he took Rei's face between his hands so that he couldn't help but look at Boris and he looked him straight into his eyes. "Maybe I should kiss you to make it look right," he mused out loud, but the Chinese boy's eyes widened.

"**GET OFF ME!**" and with a stroke of genius, Rei swiped Boris' legs from under him and using the momentum, managed to threw his grip off of himself and sprint through the door. Outside, he almost crashed into Kai who was startled to see him, but Rei just brushed past him and ran all the way to his tower where he locked himself in and threw himself on to his bed only to cry his heart out for the nth time of the day, feeling more alone than ever.

* * *

TBC… on March 16th.


	6. Ch6: Kare to Kareshi no Jijou

16.3.2008

Reposted 11.2.2009. Thanks, MiDemoni, for noticing that blunder, and sorry for getting mad at you for it. It's now fixed.

Beta by Kuro-chan and me, plus some credit to Zane for some nice touches. Thanks.

Disclaimer: This piece of fanfiction is not for sale, rent or auction. If you paid for this, you have been ripped off.

Apologies to all my reviewers, I haven't had enough time to answer to you, you beautiful people. But I thank you from the bottom of my heart; you give me the fuel I need to speed onwards!

"You can close your eyes to reality but not to memories."

* * *

Be My Companion

Chapter six: His and His Boyfriend's Circumstances

_by rebecca85_

* * *

_Rei ran all the way to his tower where he locked himself in and threw himself on to his bed only to cry his heart out for the nth time of the day, feeling more alone than ever._

* * *

Rei hid in his room for two whole days. Food appeared behind his door with a soft knock and retrieving footsteps. The whole time Rei was locked up in his room, he cried. The shock of the events had broken the dam and his forced cheeriness was wiped away as homesickness and the feelings of hopelessness, desertedness and loneliness washed over him like a breaker. When he didn't have any more tears to shed, he stared at nothing and thought about his family.

He thought many times how things would have turned out if he had told his mother why Kai was at their mansion that day. Or if he had just sucked it up and danced with those suitors. Or if he had chickened out of the dare. Or, or… The possibilities were endless. But after wallowing enough in the past he couldn't change, his mind started rewinding his encounter with the Russian people currently residing in the castle.

Maybe if he had been the bigger man and just explained to Kai why he wanted to do household work, they wouldn't have ended up fighting over it, with the result of the silent treatment? Then he wouldn't have felt the need to spend so much time with— At this point, his mind refused to think up further and only the empty horror of human behaviour was left and he tried to focus on his family again, on happier memories, and was lost again in them for hours.

On the third day, Rei woke up feeling exhausted. He hadn't been out and his body was aching from the stillness. After washing up, he took a deep breath and went down stealthily, not making a sound. There wouldn't be anyone awake at five in the morning, so there was no actual need to be so quiet, but Rei didn't want to feel at ease with the place. He didn't want to feel like he belonged there, so he treated everything like an enemy zone and treaded onwards carefully.

The Chinese boy had a refreshing shower and then he snuck out of the castle. He headed straight to the forest behind the compound and stayed there until well into late noon when he had to return to the castle, for he had no food with him and he had skipped every meal of the day so far. But he was feeling refreshed after the peace of nature and had calmed down a huge deal, so he went straight to the kitchen to find a good meal.

Unfortunately, the kitchen seemed to have become the place to go when trying to find a certain Chinese neko-jin.

When Rei saw Boris inside the kitchen, leaning against the wall right next to the door, care-free, he bolted. Alas, he had as much success as he did the last time he had tried to bolt out of the Russian man's reach.

"Wait!" Boris commanded and with a couple of fast and long strides, he caught Rei. This ensued into a fierce struggle to get free, freezing fear gripping the neko-jin's heart and giving him an adrenaline rush that would've fended off a sable-tooth tiger. But Boris wasn't scared off so easily, so he crouched suddenly, surprising Rei, and scooped him on his shoulder. The raven haired boy was breathless for a moment until he started hitting the man on his back and shouting commands (and pleads) to put him down immediately. His cries fell on to deaf ears.

Rei was alarmed to notice that the sofa he was next dumped on was in the same room as their last encounter had been. Worst of all, Boris went to lock the door firmly behind him and then sat across Rei, the Goban left between them. The man took a black piece, slammed it on the board and waited for a response.

"Play," Boris commanded roughly. Rei jumped a little from his demanding tone but thought to play it safe. If he would do everything the lilac haired man told him to, maybe he would be let out sooner?

With shaking hands, Rei placed his white stone and frantically tried to think of an escape-plan. Boris had placed himself between Rei and the only way out, so the only option for him would be to somehow get through the man. He—he knew martial arts, right? It c-couldn't be that hard?

Suddenly Boris grabbed his hand that had been placing his second stone and Rei was startled so badly that he dropped the piece he was setting and even knocked down his Goke. The round but flat stones rolled on the ground, unnoticed, as the Chinese young man was starting to hyperventilate from the contact he couldn't tug free. He _hated_ direct contact with unknown persons, especially if he felt threatened by it!

"Rei," Boris said, seriously, but the boy wasn't listening. "Rei, listen to me!" he tried to command but to no avail. "Dammit, Rei, I'M SORRY," he growled loudly with exasperation. It took a moment for the neko-jin to realise what he had heard. Slowly he stopped pulling his hand away and raised his eyes to watch the man opposite of him.

"Sorry?" he asked in a small voice. Now that he actually looked Boris in the eyes, he noticed that he was looking at him with frustration and maybe… a little pleadingly?

"Yes!" he confirmed. "I'm sorry about what happened the other day, I didn't mean it to get out of hand like that," he confessed angrily. The way he had this pained anger etched to his person right now, made Rei think a little.

"…did something happen?" he asked quietly and a bit concerned. But he couldn't differ if it was concern for himself or for someone else.

"Yes—I mean, no. I mean—," Boris tried to find the right words, then he rolled his eyes, let go of Rei's hand and sighed as he flopped back on his chair. He rubbed his face in a defeated manner. "I only made him angrier," he then said, forlornly.

"Who?" Rei asked cautiously. Boris sighed again in resignation.

"Yuriy." _'Ah. Well, that explains it. …I think?'_ Seeing his pondering expression, Boris barked out a laught.

"I can't believe I'm telling _you_ this, of all people," he said, smiling miserably. "But I really have no one else to talk to and I think… I think I went a little overboard last time," he continued humbly. Rei blinked in surprise. Was he really apologising? In his books, 'sorry' didn't quite cover it at this point, but Boris wasn't finished.

"I didn't mean what I said, Rei," he told him while looking almost dreamily up at the ceiling. "Well, not all of it. I mean, I don't actually care about what happens to you, I hardly know you… but I know that you're not a whore and I formally apologise of that. I should know… I've heard those words before, directed to someone else…" he said, voice fading away like he was falling into his memories, a sad tinge appearing to his expression. Although Boris didn't exactly sound sincere, Rei was willing to listen now.

"Look," he said more firmly and leaned forwards to look Rei straight in to his eyes. "I've been with Yuriy for almost eleven years and I've loved him for half of it."

"Eh?"

"We've been together for three years, and our relationship was as good as they come."

"Haa…"

"But now… _now_ Yuriy says he wants to break up with me," Boris growled through gritted teeth. "And he won't agree to become my lifetime partner because… because…" he slammed the Goban so hard that Rei had to avoid getting hit by flying stones, and he seemed to be on the verge of exploding with anger anytime now. But then, Boris hid his face in his palms and his shoulders slumped. "…because he doesn't feel worthy enough," he ended miserably. He then looked pleadingly to Rei, who was completely baffled by this confession.

"Do you think that I _care_ about his position?" he continued forlornly, but continued before Rei could even think of an answer. "I mean, I'm the second son! Third child! I have no position in my family, exactly the reason I was given a companion!" he ranted with frustration. "I don't care about our family business; I could care less about teaching or education. I want to have my own life, _with him_! But…" Boris threw out his hands in a gesture of giving up, sighed and slumped back in his chair.

"That's why I lost it yesterday," he continued in a more subdued voice. "When I saw him, standing there, _hurt_ in his beautiful eyes… I wanted to kill someone." He fisted his hand with anger momentarily. "Sorry, Rei. I think you got almost all of it directed to you. I don't know what I was doing…" he sighed, sounding disappointed with himself.

Rei sighed. Who was he kidding? _That_ was a full blown apology and very much acceptable. And he, being the compassionate youngest brother, knew that Boris needed a shoulder. Not maybe to cry on – that image was a little disturbing – but just someone to confide in. It would take some time for him to feel at ease with the Russian man again, but he could listen. He could always listen.

"Oh, yeah," Boris said suddenly. "You might want to be careful around Yuriy right now, Rei."

"Eh? Why?" he asked surprised.

"Well…" the Russian man scratched the back of his head a bit uncertainly. "I'm not sure how he will act. You see, Yuriy doesn't get jealous, he gets _murderous_. But now I don't know if he will vent it out on me or will he…" he stopped abruptly and glanced at Rei.

"Or will he get angry with _me_?" Rei ended.

Boris nodded. "I know how to handle him but you have no idea what he can do or say, so just… try to avoid him or something."

"I'll try," Rei promised.

Then they both sighed and sat back on their seats. There was a long thinking period, but neither knew what the other might've thought about. Just as good, since they probably would've gotten it wrong anyhow.

Then Rei's stomach gave a deep growl. The neko-jin looked surprised for a second and then he flushed cherry-red.

"Hungry?" Boris asked lazily, his mind somewhere else. Rei nodded and proceeded to the door. "Want company?" The Chinese boy smiled uncertainly.

"I'm okay," he said and left the room quickly. He wanted time alone. It was good that Boris had apologised and he wanted to forgive him, but he still needed to think it over a bit. He couldn't change his own feelings that fast. He had been pretty upset of it, after all.

Thinking things carefully through, Rei went to the kitchen, took whatever Mathilda gave him and ate. After finishing the long awaited nutrition, he wandered outside. He wasn't yet ready to face Boris and be a love counsellor if needed. It was confusing enough to realise to what extent the Russian man had gone to make Yuriy jealous. If the redhead had been a normal human being, would that have even worked? Doesn't jealousy only make people miserable? That's what Chen said to have almost ruined one of his close friend's relationship.

'_But… Boris and Yuriy are both guys, right? And it could still work?'_ Rei though fleetingly. He knew that Chen had dated a guy once but they had broken up when the boyfriend's family had arranged a marriage for him. He hadn't thought about it much then, since Chen also had been pretty aloof about the matter, but now that he was actually witnessing it… It was somewhat overwhelming. Rei's heart gave a big thump with the thought of Boris doing everything he could to keep Yuriy with him. When he thought it that way, he felt sudden pride swell in his chest for the Russian man. If anyone could make a relationship work between two males, he guessed it would be Boris.

Without thinking, Rei had wandered near the big lake somewhat behind the castle. He noticed how the water was glimmering deep blue in the sunshine and was almost the epitome of calm. With a sudden whim, he decided to take a closer look so he walked to the end of the wooden pier going quite a ways over the water and sat on the edge, letting his legs dangle over the clear water.

Rei wasn't that afraid of water itself, only of the aspect of drowning in it, so he was only a little troubled by the proximity of the matter and just rested his hands on the wooden planks, staring far away on the opposite shore that he could just make out if he concentrated. He breathed deeply and enjoyed the peace of the nature.

'_I've now made up with Boris, which is good… in a way… Should I now try to talk to Yuriy about what they should do? I'm supposed to be avoiding him but… I wonder why he's so determined about leaving Boris. Maybe he doesn't return his feelings… That wouldn't be good,'_ Rei thought and became a little depressed over the matter. What if they couldn't make up? What if Yuriy had been with Boris only because they're companions? That would be awful! He really needed to talk to the redhead about this. He was sure there was just some kind of a misunderstanding between them. Otherwise they wouldn't have _both_ tried so hard to make the other jealous. Because now that Rei knew what was going on between them, he felt embarrassed of himself for not noticing it before. He smiled slightly then. _'Yeah. I'm sure they'll be happy together.'_

With his resolve clear, Rei stood up and dusted himself. But then happened something he couldn't have expected, not in a million years, and the only warning was Boris' urgently imperative shout to Yuriy in Russian and then the hard push Rei felt on his back. His stomach dropped when he realised that he couldn't keep his balance and was falling forward, straight to the innocently glimmering blue matter.

The water was colder than it looked, for it was only the middle of spring. The cool liquid filled every pore on Rei body, licked his skin, forced its way through his hair and to his scalp, filled his eyes and cut off his dearly needed oxygen.

For a minute, Rei didn't realise what had happened. Only when his clothes started to weight too much and light escaped suddenly from his surroundings as he was holding his breath, did he grasp the fact that he needed to escape from the depths of the lake. But he couldn't immediately figure out where the surface was. His hair got in the way and twisted around him like a hand trying to gently strangle him. He felt his other shoe slip away from his foot and it was then when he finally saw where the light was coming, where the direction 'up' was.

It's not like Rei didn't have the ability to swim, like he had said to Boris. He had known how to swim when he was smaller –hell, he had even _liked_ swimming back then!– but after the incident that had almost claimed his life, he had stayed away from water and hadn't swam since. Thus, he knew the theory how to swim but when he took the first stroke, he noticed that he didn't know the technique to move in water anymore. Then, before he noticed, the fear started to seep into his heart and fill his limbs. Rei could feel the panic spreading through him as he fought to be released from the chill liquid and the soon-to-come water plants that were surely right beneath him, just waiting for a chance to twine themselves around his legs and keep him down forever.

As a slight relief, Rei noticed that he was nearing the sunlight he could see streaming through the surface. Only a couple more strokes and he would break from the chilling prison. He would be free. His lungs were starting to protest against the lack of air but if he could just manage a few more strokes, he could take a deep breath. He fumbled in the heavy water once more to break free, but then he couldn't take it anymore. He could feel his hand brushing against air just over the surface, but he himself was too far away. Black sparks danced in Rei's eyes as he tried to muster strength to close the final gap between freedom and doom, but his panic was using his last bit of oxygen too fast and for him to save himself, he was still too deep in.

Weakness flowed to his limbs and he couldn't even grasp the surface anymore. Rei felt himself sink once more and the last bit of air was used from his lungs. Blackness flowed in as he started losing his consciousness. With the last bit of coherence, Rei could feel his body and mind relaxing, welcoming the darkness as he continued to sink further to the depths of the blue waters.

* * *

Dun dun dun duuun. This was the last obligatory chapter, according to rules. Let's see what happens on … March 30th.


	7. Ch7: Anata no, Eien ni

16.4.2008

Reposted 19.9.2008. Beta by Kuro-chan and me.

Disclaimer: In the thirteenth hour of the night I create dark and mysterious things, fanfiction being one of those. Beyblade isn't dark or mysterious, or fanfiction, so that doesn't fall into my category of creation. Sorry.

In vain I tried to scare you people that I would stop the story in here. See, there hasn't been any KaRe yet, which is one of the criteria's in the competition. So no way I can end it here! We don't even have all the characters yet! This chapter ends the kind of an 'intro' of this story.

To **TalaTati19** I dedicate the kiss as a b-day present! May your birthday be filled with kisses!

"We _need_ gay people. Without diversity, we're doomed."

* * *

Be My Companion

Chapter seven: Eternally Yours

_by rebecca85_

* * *

_With the last bit of coherence, Rei could feel his body and mind relaxing, welcoming the darkness as he continued to sink further to the depths of the blue waters._

* * *

At first he couldn't feel anything. He only became vaguely aware that he was in the wrong place. It was pitch black. Then the pain came. It slashed his lungs and he tried to even out his breathing as much as he could. He felt the need to cough, but knew instinctively that it would only make it worse. He had had this condition for so long.

Now the feel of his body was returning and his awareness surfacing. His arms and legs felt like they were made of led. He couldn't move. His eyelids were heavy; it felt impossible to open them. His mouth was dry but he had no desire to talk anyway so it didn't matter. He let himself rest for a while longer, his consciousness flickering in and out from darkness to pitch black.

But now that he was coming to and could feel every aching part of his body, he also felt an unfamiliar weight on his arm that was disturbing him. It tickled his curiosity and won over his desire to fall back to sleep. With great effort and multiple tries, he got his eyes open and could keep them open. He was facing a red canopy.

His eyes were still wishing to shut down again so he needed all his will and concentration to keep them open and fight the drowsiness. He focused on the details on the woodcarvings keeping the red fabric up over the bed his was lying on. He had no idea where he was, he had no idea how he had gotten there, but he found that he wasn't particularly concerned about that.

Now that he was sure he could keep his eyes open for more than five seconds, he let his head loll to the other side, to see what was on his arm. He was absentmindedly surprised to see a tuft of red hair poking out, presenting a startling contrast with the white sheets. As he concentrated a little more, he realised that it was a person, sleeping partially on him; their folded arms as a pillow near him.

Yuriy. This person was Yuriy. But what was that tingling at his senses now? What was he supposed to remember about him?

"Rei?" asked a quiet voice. Rei blinked once, then came to the conclusion that Yuriy was still asleep and the voice was coming from another direction. He gathered up his strength and let his head loll to the other side. He's eyes met soft crimson, and for a minute he was reminded of the fireplace at home; warm and the welcoming feeling of safety.

Rei smiled lazily and said quietly, "Hi." Kai glanced around for a bit, no seeming to know what to do, before hesitantly sitting on the chair beside his bead. He was carrying an air of nervousness about him, like someone visiting relatives after a long time and forgotten how to act with them. Avoiding further eye contact, he brushed Rei's velvety hair a little out of his face and then placed a hand on his forehead.

"You still have a little fever. How are you feeling otherwise?" Rei noticed that the man spoke quietly but wasn't whispering anymore. But Kai still refused of any eye contact and it bothered the Chinese boy. Was he hurting for some reason? It took some effort, but Rei managed to uncover his hand from under the blankets and seek out Kai's. He was rewarded with an astonished look upon the Russian man's face as he finally looked at Rei, questioning, and he grasped the hand with a gentle squeeze in return.

"I'm…" Rei had to swallow once. His throat was still very dry and a bit sore. He tried again. "I'm okay. A bit tired." Kai nodded in understanding but didn't seem to know what to say next.

Then there was movement on Rei's other side and a little mumbling accompanied by a rustle. Yuriy was talking in his sleep but they couldn't make out what he was saying. Rei turned again to the redhead and released his other hand from under the blanket to put it on the mass of flaming locks. He had no strength to move his hand any further but just the comforting weight seemed to soothe the Russian man as he soon stopped his mumbling and fell into a deeper slumber.

"He's been here all this time," Kai said suddenly. Rei focused back to him.

"...what happened...?" he asked but suddenly Kai seemed uncomfortable again and rose hastily from his seat.

"You should sleep," the man said and tucked his hand back under covers. "Good night." And then Kai left the room, which probably was for the best since Rei felt his eyelids weight a ton as his eyes drooped low and finally closed. He hadn't even realised how tired he really was but as he didn't have anything to keep him awake anymore, he fell asleep in moments.

* * *

Rei was resting happily the next time he woke up. He knew this because he _didn't_ want to wake up. But the voices bickering at the edges of his consciousness were persistent and never-ceasing. Frowning disapprovingly, he resigned to his fate and decided to open his eyes. From the slit of his eyes he could see that the room was bathed in sunshine, unlike last time, and the voices reached his sensitive ears.

"…then _why_ didn't you wake me up?" one voice asked irritably, the question punctuated with a sharp tone.

"Because it was five in the morning!" another answered just as exasperated. "And he was tired; I didn't want to keep him up any more than I had to."

"More like you didn't want to," added a third voice with an air of disdain.

"You shut up, this was all your fault," the first one said hotly.

"_Mine?_ Who do you think pushed him in that lake? _Who do you think tried to stop you?_" the third asked venomously, carefully pronouncing every word through gritted teeth.

"Hey, hey, enough already," the second butted in.

"What? Are you actually going to take some responsibility?" the third asked mockingly.

"_Me_? What do I got to do with this?" the second asked fervently.

"Well if you had taken _any_ care of Rei, like you promised to his mother, you should've been there. You should've stayed by his side instead of tossing him aside like a stray cat after loosing interest."

"I never tossed Rei aside! He's the one who didn't want to talk to me!"

"I wonder why," the third responded sarcastically. Rei breathed deeply and swallowed in preparation of his task. He didn't want to do it, he didn't like to do it, but it he had to do it. That is; he would have to wake up and speak up.

"Boris," he said, his throat still a bit sore and his voice sounding like sandpaper grinding on wood. The argument was halted and a shocked silence was followed by hasty footsteps as the Russian man appeared at his side.

"Rei, you're awake. Got me worried there for a moment, are you okay?" he said as he came to sit beside the neko-jin's bed.

Rei took a breath and looked at him. "Boris, shut up," he said bluntly. In surprise, the lilac-haired man actually didn't have anything to say. Yuriy on the other hand, didn't waste time to express his thoughts and sneered at his former boyfriend. Rei focused a glare at him. "You too, Yuriy." And when Kai was about to open his mouth to put his two cents in, Rei looked at him. "_All_ of you, shut up."

Then he took another calming breath while admiring the red canopy but really thinking about what needed to be done. Even thought he didn't really have a plan, he knew what had to be done.

"Having an argument beside my bed while I'm trying to rest…" Rei berated no one particular. He didn't mention that he actually wanted to be awake in this argument because things needed to change, and they needed to change _now_. First, he would have to see them properly.

"Boris, help me up," Rei commanded and he was helped immediately. He couldn't guess was it his situation, presence or the firm tone he used, but he was fairly well obeyed, and he approved. This needed to get over and done with so that he could continue to rest. Oh, did the pillows look inviting now that he had to sit up.

"Vertigo while sitting down. That must be a first," Rei commented but didn't expect an answer and didn't get one. Then he looked at the crowd assembled in his chamber. He sighed.

"Come on, sit down. I don't want to shout," he said tiredly, sounding almost bored, and Yuriy and Kai, after first glancing at each others, came to sit on the foot of his bed, Yuriy placing himself as far away from Boris as possible.

"Rei, maybe you should just rest. The doctor said—"

"I can imagine what the doctor said, Kai," the boy said firmly, silencing him immediately. "I have weak lungs. It will take some time before the fluids clear out and I can breathe normally again without any pain. I should refrain from exerting myself and stay in bed with only light exercise such as a short walk. Did I get that right?"

There was a stunned silence. Then Yuriy spoke quietly. "Have you drowned before?"

Rei could only stare at him for a while before he burst out laughing, which wasn't a very good idea since it led him to coughing-fit and some serious gasping of breath. After a glass of water, Rei had calmed down enough to explain that he just had had the condition for so long that he knew what to expect.

"They always say the same thing, it's nothing new. I'll be up and running in no time," Rei grinned, even if it was a bit strained because there was a stinging pain sending uncomfortable waves from somewhere around his lower ribs. "But enough about me, we need to talk what happened." There was a silence in which Rei noticed that none of them would meet his eyes.

Finally Yuriy mumbled, "It was _his_ fault," while glancing at Boris. He sounded very much like a little child pouting but Rei refrained from saying it out loud.

"How do you figure?" the Chinese boy asked in a businesslike manner before Boris could retort. The younger Russian looked a little unsure talking to him and kept looking the bed covers instead of Rei. But the neko-jin knew that it would probably come to this.

"Because he knew that you would be angry with me if he flaunts our relationship right in front of you, trying to get you jealous?" Rei asked knowingly.

"… He was trying to get me jealous?" Yuriy wanted to confirm. Rei rolled his eyes.

"Well, _da_," he emphasised. Now the Russian boy was fiddling with the bed cover and stealing glanced from Boris. _'The epitome of a crush, I would say,'_ Rei thought slyly.

"So that's why you... you know… when we… when you came out of the room," Kai tried to clear out but seemed to feel uneasy talking about their running into each other.

"Yes, that's one of the reasons I was crying," Rei corroborated. Then he hit Boris in the back of his head. "Because this idiot tried to kiss me."

"It seemed like a good idea at the time…" the Russian man defended himself while rubbing his sore spot. Rei snorted.

"Yes, then Yuriy might've actually _held_ me under water instead of just trying to play a prank. Your intelligent amazes me, Boris," he commented sarcastically. He received three pairs of looks that seemed unsure if he had hit his head in addition to almost drowning.

"Look," Rei said and reached out to Yuriy to take his hand so that he would look him in the eye. "Do you still love Boris?" He could see that the answer came with great reluctance but Yuriy felt compelled to answer. Rei guessed there was very little Yuriy would refuse from him at this moment.

The boy with flaming red hair took a breath and then fixed his eyes firmly to Rei. "Yes." The Chinese boy relaxed back against the headboard.

"Then this is all your fault," he announced matter-of-factly. Yuriy was stricken with shock, so Rei went on explaining. "I mean that if you had just been honest about your feelings, Boris wouldn't have resorted to jealously and you two would never be fighting in the first place. As for me drowning, that's entirely my fault. I can't swim. Which you must've guessed when I didn't come up immedi—"

"I'm so sorry!" Yuriy suddenly cried and then broke down to sobbing uncontrollably. He hid his face in his hands and seemed to collapse in himself as he held his arms tightly against his chest, trying to ward himself from all evil. Rei's resolve crumbled. Maybe the best way would be gently guide them together after all, and not forcing Yuriy to realise what he could still have and how little he got to lose.

"Yuriy," Rei said gently and the Russian boy peeked from under his bangs carefully. The patient welcomed him with open arms. "Come here."

Rei thought his ribs might've broken in the crush he got from Yuriy, but he let him squeeze him as much as he wanted to, while petting his hair and mumbling softly, "It's not your fault. I'm okay now. You didn't mean it, I know."

After Yuriy was calm enough and had stopped crying, Rei explained slowly and without breaking eye contact, that Yuriy was responsible only for his and Boris' problems, not Rei's or Kai's or anyone else's. After he was sure the Russian boy understood him, he decided to drop the bomb.

"So… Why exactly are you feeling unworthy of this arrogant bastard? I mean Boris, of course," Rei corrected, which finally made Yuriy laugh a little.

"Kai isn't all that bad, you know," he answered shyly while dodging the real question. "He dived you from that lake and even got you breathing again, Rei-Rei." He got a dumbfounded blink from that nickname.

"Well that's very nice, _Yuririn_," Rei shot right back at him, "but that wasn't my question."

Silence fell as Boris and Kai were watching this with utmost attention and Yuriy started to fiddle with strands of Rei's hair to help him avoid the inquiry. The void of noise stretched on.

"He's not royalty, you know," the neko-jin added helpfully. He received a glare.

"I know that," Yuriy bit back. "It's just… I'm… one of the common people…" he explained quietly, trying to tell only Rei about his insecurities in front of his love. The Chinese boy stared at him for a while. Then he sighed.

"Yuriy, stop me if you know this, because I'm pretty sure you do – or you _should_ know – but you _do_ know that companions are always more than common people? If they come from plain backgrounds, they are given status and education to fit the companionship. Isn't that right, Kai?" Rei confirmed. The slate-haired man was surprised of the sudden attention but was soon nodding his agreement.

"Exactly. Companions are required to appear in every event that their partners, so as befit their part, they must be of certain status."

"Boris?" Rei inquired. The man was in deep thought about their conversation and only now seemed to woke up from his musing. He put his two cents in.

"Yes, I never thought about what kind of an impact it would be for Yuriy to not remember his parents," he started businesslike, "so he might not remember that he's of noble birth. Yuriy, your title didn't change in the event of their death nor did your possessions lessen in the years you've been with the Kuznetsov family. It's one of the reasons you were taken in to be my companion, Yuriy. Because of your status. You're hardly a nobody," he said seriously. The redhead was sunned.

"But you're… _Boris Kuznetsov_," he said unbelievingly while slowly shaking his head. "They expect a lot from you… They won't accept you getting together with your _companion_ of all people! You have a bright future ahead, I couldn't—"

"Bullshit," Boris stated with vigour. "I'm not the heir of the family, Andrey is. And if my parents want grandchildren, Anna is already way ahead. She's pregnant, you know, on her twelfth week. My family has _no_ expectations from me. I'm the third child, for heaven's sake! That's why I got a companion to begin with!" he laughed with a clear lack of humour. "Besides," he added softly, almost forlornly, "having your companion to be your lifetime partner isn't unheard of. It's uncommon, I admit, but not impossible or looked down upon. And I _do_ want to spend the rest of my life with you."

"You really mean that?" he asked quietly, tears brimming in the icy-blue eyes but Rei doubted he realised it himself.

"Every word," Boris answered resolutely. Yuriy sat up a little more attentively.

"So… we're equals?"

"Always," he confirmed. This caused the little redhead to break out in a grin and reach out to the other side of the bed to grab Boris' shirt and yanking him into a hot kiss. When he had gotten their lips adequately acquainted, he buried his hands in Boris' lilac hair and sighed contently. The older man tried his best to get his hands on his re-boyfriend but alas, they were parted by a four-poster. And more unfortunately to some other parties, they were deeply involved in their action right in front of a certain someone.

After a while, Rei started to get annoyed. It had been intriguing to see two guys kissing at first, but now that he had seen most of their techniques, he could feel a twitch forming in the corner of his eye.

"Guys," Rei started, but got no reaction. He tried again, but Boris only moved to map Yuriy's whole face with small loving kisses. Soon the lovebirds found to be a target of a pillow, followed with Rei's annoyed, "Get a room!"

Sheepishly they parted and moved off from the bed. They bowed their thanks to Rei and made a slightly hasty exit. We all know _why_ they were so eager to retreat from any company.

As soon as the two re-united lovers were firmly away from the room, Rei slumped back against the headboard, fatigue washing over him like breakers. He felt faint.

"… Are you alright?" Kai asked uncertainly, keeping his distance.

"I'm fine," Rei assured him immediately. "I just… used too much energy, I think. I need to lie down." This time the Hiwatari heir ventured near him and helped Rei properly under covers with fluffed pillows and a well-placed glass of water. Exhausted, the neko-jin fell asleep almost immediately, but not before he took a hold of Kai's hand and gave it a big squeeze.

He didn't know what was wrong, but the Russian man was acting oddly and he wanted to reassure him that everything would be just fine. He was alive, which had always been the thing that mattered. Not what had happened, who had done what or why they had gotten to this point. The important thing was right here and he didn't want Kai to forget this, but he didn't know if that really was the problem. This was all he could do for now and it would have to suffice.

Just then, he lost his last ounce of consciousness and drifted into a deep slumber, exhausted but utterly happy for his two new friends.

* * *

_da_ - 'yes' in Russian, and sounds a little like 'duh'. This is a pun.

* * *

Next update _should_ be on 27th April, which is a special day for me. So I'll do my best! : )


	8. Ch8: Hanasanakya Ikenai

27.4.2008

Reposted 20.9.2008. Beta by me.

Disclaimer: I tried to ask the rights to Beyblade from Aoki Takao as my birthday present, but he wasn't feeling generous. He just laughed at me being single and now 23.

"If you love someone, you have to let them go. If they come back to you, you know it was meant to be."

* * *

Be My Companion

Chapter eight: I have to let you go

_by rebecca85_

* * *

_Just then, he lost his last ounce of consciousness and drifted into a deep slumber, exhausted but utterly happy for his two new friends._

* * *

"Are you sure you should be up already?" Yuriy asked suspiciously, while supporting Rei's weight when he tried to find his balance after being bedridden for three days.

"I've told you a hundred times, I'm _fine_," the other boy insisted. "Now let's get out of here before I trash this room. There so much one can do before going bonkers in a closed space, you know."

The redheaded Russian snorted but refrained from commenting any further. Rei really did seem bored out of his mind, cooped inside with only Boris or Yuriy as company. (Kai had vanished somewhere with a muttered excuse of needing to attend to some business.) The Russian guests had agreed from the start that they wouldn't be with the patient at the same time for the obvious reasons; after being apart for a good while, they couldn't seem to keep their hands to themselves.

After descending the stairs, with Rei insisting on climbing them down by himself and Yuriy absolutely not agreeing, they headed almost straight outside. The late spring sun was shining brightly so Yuriy suggested they went to sit in the garden house where Boris and Rei had eaten pancakes the last time. When they were comfortably seated, Yuriy started to fuss.

"You aren't too cold?"

"The temperature is optimal," Rei answered politely.

"Isn't it too hard? I could get some pillows to sit on…"

"I like the way it is, but thanks."

"Is the sun shining too strongly? We should probably go inside after all…" Yuriy worried. Rei sighed.

"Yuririn," he used the new nickname to get his attention, "This is just fine. Now just let me breathe a little of this fresh air, I promise we can go inside soon. Stop worrying," he reassured the boy. Yuriy looked a bit concerned still, but relented.

"Okay, okay," he gave in. "Sorry for acting like a mother-hen, I must seem like such a girl, huh?" he asked embarrassed.

"You act exactly like a worried friend," Rei told him softly then hugged the boy. "Thank you for taking such good care of me, Yuririn."

Yuriy squeezed him slightly tighter before letting go. He still had the remnants of an embarrassed blush marring his cheeks, but Rei suspected him being pleased by what he had said. After all, the neko-jin's mother had taught him that even though some things might seem clear to you, it's always good to state the obvious when it might cause pleasure to someone. So Rei always tried to tell everyone any compliments he might think of. If he knew them, of course. He was a bit embarrassed himself to confess that he was a kind of shy when it came to new people. Probably because he had lived so long at home.

"I'm going to get something to drink," Yuriy announced. "I'll be back in a moment, okay?"

"I'll be waiting," Rei answered, smiling as the boy jumped up and skipped away. Lately Yuriy had been in a _very_ good mood. But he wouldn't be too mad if Rei moved to sit somewhere else, right? He would still be here, but that marble bench near the garden house looked so inviting, lit by sunshine, that he couldn't resist the temptation.

As lovely as Yuriy had been the last few days, Rei relished on the feeling of freedom as he could walk to the bench _alone_, and sit there _alone_, enjoying the sunshine _by himself_. Boris and Yuriy had been great with taking care of him, so he didn't have the heart to tell them that he would appreciate some time alone as well, especially as he kind of guessed that Yuriy was trying to make amends about pushing him in that lake.

Rei closed his eyes and took a long deep breath while letting the sunshine wash over him. How he had missed this.

"Rei?" asked a voice with an incredulous note. As he opened his eyes to see who had been talking, Kai was already walking briskly towards him with a frown.

"Hi, Kai," he answered in a casual attitude. He watched with only slight interest how the man made his way quickly in front of him.

"Don't 'hi' me, Rei," Kai said sternly. The Chinese boy frowned a little at this response, but waited before saying anything. Usually the reason for someone's annoyance becomes apparent quickly. "What are you doing here? Aren't you supposed to be inside, resting?"

"I came for some fresh air," Rei answered calmly. _'So Kai was just worried? Figures,'_ he thought with a little amusement. "I won't get any better by just staying inside. Daitenji-sensei advised me to have a little walk, right?" Kai was reluctant to admit that he was right.

"Just don't push yourself," he replied gruffly. Rei smiled, then patted the seat next to him.

"Sit down for a while," he suggested. Kai immediately glanced back where he had come from, seemingly trying to find something to save him from the situation. _'So he _is_ avoiding me,'_ Rei concluded. '_But why?'_

"Yuriy is getting something to drink, so you can keep me company until then," he pressed on before the other could think of an excuse to flee from the scene. This did seem to do the trick as Kai sat beside him but with some reserve. Rei decided to stay silent. If the man had something to say, he would, eventually.

Minutes passed as Rei bathed in the sun and enjoyed the breeze. He would have to start up a conversation soon if Kai wasn't going to say anything. Even thought the silence actually felt nice. He had never been comfortable in silence with a stranger before, which made it odd. Maybe Kai wasn't that much of a stranger anymore?

"I didn't inform them," Kai said suddenly with the heavy air of confession. Rei turned to regard him, but couldn't figure out who he was talking about.

"Who?" he finally had to ask. Kai sighed and ran his fingers through his hair in frustration.

"Your family," he cleared finally. "I didn't tell them that my friend pushed you into a lake, that you almost drowned, that you were unconscious for _days_, that your lung-problem was only worsened by the incident, that you… That you…" he swallowed. "…that you almost died…" he whispered thickly, and then rubbing his face with his palms, ending up with his head over his knees, his fingers buried in his hair. He looked very much like a man who had promised himself not to cry: Frustrated, annoyed, and hopeless.

Rei let the tension drain from him as he finally understood why Kai had been avoiding him with such effort. He took a while to process this new information and what to say to Kai who seemed to be waiting for the axe to fall. Finally he nodded to himself.

"Good," he said determinately. Kai looked at him, surprised. Rei made sure they had eye contact when spoke next. "It's good that you didn't tell them, Kai," he assured him. "It would've only made my mother worry for no reason and maybe even worsened her condition. And I don't even want to think what my brothers would have done!" he laughed. The Russian man smiled a little non-humorously at this. Then Rei took his hand, and was again awarded with that utter astonishment on Kai's face for this.

"Thank you for not telling them," he said and meant every word. "And…" he smiled gratefully. "Thank you for rescuing me, Kai." The slate-haired youth relaxed and gave a little smile in return, this time real.

They sat in a peaceful silence for a while. Rei closed his eyes and let a smile rest on his features as the rays of sun basked on him. He could sense Kai sitting close to him, his hand cool under his own but Rei didn't want to shatter the moment and let it rest there. But then the other man shuffled his feet a little and cleared his throat.

"Rei?" he asked. The neko-jin didn't open his eyes, only hummed in response to encourage him to go on. "I was wondering… would you like to go visit your family?"

Rei froze and opened his eyes. He looked at Kai, incredulous. "…really?" Kai nodded. The raven-haired boy opened his mouth but could get nothing out at first.

"But… you said…" he spluttered, "That night- we were- you said- I told my mother— Really?!" he finally burst out in excitement, turning to face Kai wholly and grabbing his hand more tightly on the way. The Hiwatari heir was a little overwhelmed by his reaction, so he just nodded fervently to convey his assurance. You could almost see sparkles in Rei's eyes as he just stared at Kai with utmost happiness, then his joy seemed to overflow and seized by the moment, he hugged his former antagonist. Slightly embarrassed by the situation, Kai started to mumble to Rei's hair for his own defence.

"I know I've been a bit unreasonable. I didn't realise then what kind of an impact would it be for you to be apart from your family," unconsciously he wrapped his arms around Rei. "You know that I had heard about you, but I never thought it meant that you're used to have your family around. My parents are never here, so I don't really understand why you would miss them so much, so…"

"I understand, Kai," Rei said softly to his ear. "I never thought about that, you know," he added conversationally. "But now that you mentioned it, I haven't seen your family around."

"They're busy," Kai said, slight disappointment and bitterness darkening his voice. Rei couldn't say anything to this, just rested his head against Kai's shoulder for him to know that he was there. Then he felt a hand going up to his hair and sliding down in smooth movements. He closed his eyes and felt incredibly safe in Kai's arms, but didn't dwell on it too long. Then a loud voice cut the silent air like a butcher's knife.

"Rei! I got the drinks! I hope you have stayed put like I told you to!" Yuriy bellowed as he approached. The two in companionship immediately jumped apart and Kai stood up in a hurry. But he stayed put and looked nervously around, avoiding Rei's gaze in case it was directed to him.

"So, do you want to go?" he asked quickly.

"What? Oh, right. Yes. I would love to," Rei said just as hurriedly.

"Okay, good," Kai answered. "First thing tomorrow? We'll go by carriage."

"Yeah, sounds good. Tomorrow. Carriage. Good."

"Okay." There was a moment of silence. "Right! I have to go through some… things. See you later," Kai said and retreated from the marble bench with fast strides.

"Hi, Kai," Rei could hear Yuriy saying. "What are you doing here? Did you see Rei?"

"Yeah… I saw him. Later."

Yuriy came in sight with an amused look on his face, carrying two glasses of juice. He sat down and wordlessly handed the other drink to Rei.

"So, why were you two hugging?" the redhead inquired nonchalantly.

Rei almost choked on his drink.

* * *

The next morning, Rei was up early as usual, but Boris kept him company as he waited anxiously for their departure. The Chinese boy had a deep suspicion that Yuriy had just sent Boris to keep an eye on him so that he wouldn't over-exert himself.

"Again, why are you here, Boris?" Rei asked, slightly annoyed as he paced in his room. He had already rearranged his wardrobe and lined up everything on the table in perfect order, but it was still only seven thirty. He looked critically at the vase he had moved to the bedside table, but then shook his head and tried the dressing table again.

"As I said," Boris told him with utter boredom, "Yuriy told me to keep you company." Then he gave a huge yawn. Rei glanced at him, disapprovingly.

"Why didn't he come himself, if he wants me to be kept company so much?"

"Yuriy isn't a morning person," Boris said mildly while leaning precariously on two legs of the chair. The other boy raised an eyebrow and pushed him back on four legs as he passed.

"And you are?" he asked while finally giving up and resting the flowers on the small table where they had been in the beginning. Then he sat down, propped his head on his hands and looked at Boris. The man glared at him for bringing him back on the ground, but didn't try to lean back again.

"No," he bit out. Rei kept on staring at him.

"Wanna use my bed?"

Boris deadpanned. "Are you serious? After what just happened? Do you _know_ what he'll do if he finds me in _another man's bed_?"

Rei thought for a while. "I have some ideas," he commented lightly. The Russian man sighed in frustration, and Rei answered it with his own rolling of the eyes.

"Come on, it's _me_. Besides, it's not like I would sleep _with_ you," he pointed out. Boris looked at him, considering.

"Would you promise me that you won't do anything stupid while I sleep? Yuriy will have my head if you've ran off somewhere when he wakes up." Rei smiled sweetly to him.

"I promise," he assured him. "I'll just go find Becky and have a chat with her, you go on ahead and take a little nap."

"Okay," Boris relented. "But I'm not going to sleep long, so you better be somewhere near when I wake up," he warned. Rei rose from his seat and wished him a well rest. Then he slipped out of his room and went to the kitchen. He did have a talk with Becky, but only about what was Kai's favourite breakfast. After finding out, he made it for him and took it to his room. He had never been in there and he marvelled the size of it. But he firmly told himself that it wasn't the time to be admiring the art or the carvings or the view (Was that a sundial?) or any of the decorative things what would have probably caused Rei's female friend in China to erupt into an ecstatic fit.

He refocused on the form of the bed and by instinct went quietly close. He peeked inside the curtains first, considering the sleeping figure for a while, but then decided that Kai looked exactly the same when he was awake. Well, he wasn't frowning, but pretty much the same. Rei grinned. He set the tray on the bedside table and pulled the covers off.

"Rise and shine, sleepyhead!" he said loudly. While Kai was fighting against the sunshine burning at his eyes, Rei pushed the curtains aside and tied them against the bedposts. Then the Russian heir realised who was with him in his room and he sprang up.

"Rei!" he cried in surprise.

"In the flesh," the neko-jin responded. "Here," he placed the tray on the bed, "your breakfast." But then he didn't know what to do next. He stood on the side of the bed, waiting for Kai to take the food, watching the Russian man with his hands behind his back and rocking a little on the balls of his feet.

Kai looked at the food, then back at Rei. He did a fast evaluation of the situation (considering he hadn't been awake even for ten minutes), then resigned and pulled the tray close.

"Sit down," he ordered but Rei took it as an invitation and gladly obeyed.

This morning, Kai found out a lot of things about Rei. Probably more than he ever had.

First: Rei was a morning person. He had woken up three hours ago, which was four hours before Kai usually woke up.

Secondly: Rei could cook. He had suspected it when he had cooked for Boris, but he had never liked breakfast this much before.

Thirdly: Rei could keep up an interesting conversation even if the opponent could only nod or shake their head.

And lastly: Rei loved his family. Very, very, _very_ much.

* * *

"Are you nervous?" Kai asked, a bit incredulously as he saw Rei fiddling his trousers again. The neko-jin was looking at the scenery that went by, but somehow Kai didn't think he actually saw it.

"Huh?" Rei asked as he turned to Kai. The slate-haired youth sighed and took the other's hand. Now it was his turn.

"Why are you nervous?" he inquired. "You're going to see your family. Aren't you excited?"

Rei had almost a pained look on his face, and he was still fidgeting. "I know, and I am, honestly. It's just… I've never been away from home for this long and… I'm worried if everything is okay…"

"Everything will be fine. They would've told you if something had happened," Kai reassured him.

"Like you told them that I almost drowned?" Rei asked bluntly, which was almost like a slap in the face for the other man. He disconnected their hands and faced a little more to the front.

"Oh! I'm sorry!" Rei exclaimed. "I didn't mean it like that. Sometimes when I'm nervous, I get my foot in my mouth," he apologized. Then he looked back out the window, wringing his hands in worry now that they were free to do so.

"Besides…" he said quietly. "What if I get even more homesick, Kai? What if I see my mother again and I don't want to go back?" Rei looked worriedly at Kai. The Russian man had to bite down his teeth so as not to show any unnecessary facial expressions. He had considered it. He knew what he had to say. It was just so much harder in real life.

"Then you stay," Kai answered but directed his unseeing eyes outside the carriage window.

"What? Do you mean…?" The Hiwatari heir squared his shoulders and looked back at Rei.

"If you wish to go back, you may. It was unreasonable of me in the first place to request such an absurd matter. I should have comprehended the situation better and act accordingly. I apologise for my selfishness and this inconvenience I have caused you and your family, even though I cannot even hope to receive your forgiveness."

Rei realised that Kai was back in his shell again. When he didn't want to deal with things personally, he let his political side take over and smooth things out without feelings. The only problem was that Rei didn't want to talk to _this_ Kai, but he didn't know what to do.

The Chinese boy felt a lump of disappointment settle over his heart, making it harder to breathe. Somehow, he felt betrayed. Like Kai was giving him up too easily, not even putting up a fight. But that probably would've taken things for the worst, so he guessed Kai was right. Maybe it was good to end this here and now before anyone else got hurt.

* * *

Too bad I already told you this is going to be a lot longer than six chapters. Otherwise I could've scared you with this ending. It's scary, isn't it? Cliffie…

Sensei - suffix for people with renowned careers, like lawyers, teachers, _doctors_, writers, politicians, manga-kas, etc.


	9. Ch9: Tsureteitte!

11.5.2008

Reposted 20.9.2008. Beta by me.

Disclaimer: I tried to sneak the copyright papers from Aoki Takao, only to realise it was just the sketch for the 4th season. Darn.

Thanks to MiDemoni for brewing up the scene with the coachman. And thanks to Little Myy for giving me some advise on the tumour thingy.

"Man can live about forty days without food, about three days without water, about eight minutes without air, but only for one second without hope."

* * *

Be My Companion

Chapter nine: Take me with you!

_by rebecca85_

* * *

_Maybe it was good to end things here and now before anyone else got hurt._

* * *

The rest of the way went by in silence. Rei couldn't think of anything to talk about without sounding like they were his last words to Kai. But the Hiwatari heir didn't see particularly talkative either, so they stayed silent and only watched the scenery go by.

As Rei started to recognise more and more of the surroundings, he grew more anxious. Even if he had been disappointed with Kai's reaction of letting him go home, it was pushed at the back of his mind when he thought about the joy of seeing his mother and brothers again. Memories pushed their way to his thoughts and he imagined how they all were doing and how surprised they would be to see him again. He couldn't help it; he was eager to get home.

As the carriage finally stopped before the large gates of the Kon Mansion and the coachman went to open the iron wrought entrance, Rei was almost jumping in his seat to get home. But then he remembered that it would probably be the last time he would see Kai in a while. They might meet at the Princess' birthday party (which Rei doubted very much) but for the time being, this was very possibly the last time they would see each other.

"Kai…" he started, but didn't know what to say. The slate-haired young man turned to Rei with an expressionless look upon his face, and the fiery red eyes took a good look at his short-term companion. Then he wordlessly took a hold of Rei's fingers and pressed his lips against the back of the hand. For some reason, the neko-jin felt his breath get caught in his throat and his heart skipped a beat.

"Rei," Kai said with a deep voice. "It has been a pleasure." Then the carriage jerked back to movement and before Rei noticed, they were by the front steps of his home. He was torn between going and staying, to say something to Kai. He really did feel that this could be it, but he was at a loss of words. Rei looked back at Kai who nodded towards the house. "Go."

Without another word, Rei tore the door open and ran the stairs to his home. He didn't look back, because he wasn't sure if he wanted to see what he was leaving behind. When he got inside the house, he headed straight to the sunroom, where his mother would normally be at that time, probably slowly eating her way through her breakfast. But when he arrived to the sunlit parlour, there was no one there.

Frowning a bit in at this unexpected turn of events, he started looking for his mother. He went to her room that was eerily quiet and just as empty as the sunroom. Things were starting to strike as odd to Rei. His pace quickened as he went trough the library, glanced at the garden, searched from the lounge and finally even stopped by in his own room. Now he was feeling the gnawing sensation of fear building in the pit of his stomach: the house was empty.

But just as he was starting to panic in the vast house, a voice interrupted him.

"Rei? What are you doing here?" Immediately he spun around and came face to face with his oldest brother, Hong-Xian. He sighed in relief for finally seeing a familiar face and without a word he ran to him for a hug.

As expected, he got one in return, but then Hong-Xian looked intently at his face from an arm's length and asked again what he was doing there.

"I came to see mother," Rei explained. "Do you know where she is? And are the others home? I would like to see everyone." His oldest brother looked a little uncomfortable and he seemed troubled.

"Rei-chan…" he started, worrying his lip a bit which was his habit when he didn't know how to tell someone bad news. "Mother isn't here anymore," he finally said. Rei felt the floor disappear beneath him and all colour escaped from his face.

"…what?" he managed to whisper in terror. But he couldn't believe it-- **wouldn't** believe it! His mother… and he hadn't been here with her…

Hong-Xian finally read the horror on his brother's face and understood what he had implied. "No! Rei! Calm down, mother is just fine!" he hurried to reassure him. Rei felt how he could suddenly breathe again and he staggered as the relief flooded over him like a wave of warm breaker. Hong-Xian took Rei back into a big hug and gave him a crushing squeeze to compensate for the tread he knew he had just caused.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean it that way. I just meant that mother isn't here, in this house, anymore," he explained, then held Rei an arm's length again to look him in the eyes as he told this. "She went to China, to get treatment for her illness, Rei, and to be near father."

"What? There… is a treatment to her illness?" he asked, dumbfounded. This was the first time he had heard about it, but from the look of things Hong-Xian had been informed of this much earlier. His big brother looked slightly frustrated when he tried to search for the right words.

"I…" he started, but then gave up and changed his mind. "She was worried of you, Rei. You've always been sick and we've all doted on you, I admit. But because of that, she didn't want to leave you alone in here but we also didn't know if you could make the trip with her. The journey to China is a long one and the doctors were concerned if your body could hold up against such physical and mental strain."

"But isn't the journey dangerous to her wellbeing as well then?" Rei asked quickly.

"Of course it is. But as she's going there to be probably saved, the advantages overcome the disadvantages this time," Hong-Xian told him. The young neko-jin felt like someone had pulled the carped from under his feet. There was a moment of disbelief when he realised that he had been a burden to his mother, an obstacle on her way to recovery. It was a hit below the belt, to put it lightly. In order to distract himself from this revelation, he decided to concentrate on something else.

"So… where are the others? I looked everywhere and there's no one here."

"Ah, yes, you're right. Kuai went with mother to learn more about political relations with father, and mother wouldn't even hear of Qian staying at home alone. Tianbao went to see her fiancée and they're finally planning on getting married this fall, and An-Wen went to Kuznetsov's Institute of Law and Justice to take his pre-law exam so that he can apply to the Institute as a student for the next semester," he told Rei. "There's only Chen here and he's somewhere with his mystery-lover, so I don't see him much at home, and I'm here filling father's duties while he's away."

Rei took a little time to digest it all, while he slowly nodded to his brother as a sign of understanding. "I see… And all of this because I left home?" he asked to be sure.

"Well, when you put it that way, I guess you're right. You've always been the centre of this family, Rei, and when you're not here, we all just… went to our own ways, I guess. But what _are_ you doing here? Weren't you supposed to be Hiwatari Kai's companion until you turn eighteen?" Hong-Xian asked, confused. Then Rei realised what he needed to do, and what he wanted to do.

He smiled at his brother and told him what he was there for.

* * *

Kai looked after the disappearing form of Rei, as the neko-jin vanished through the doors of the big house. Then he slumped back in his seat and sighed. He raked his hands through his hair when he thought what he had just done. He had let him go. He had let Rei go.

Somehow, it felt incredibly good. The euphoria of knowing how happy he had made the little neko-jin was incredible. He had never felt this good about something that made himself sad. Because sad he was. He had just gotten to know the boy… Well, as good as the circumstances would allow, but now he was gone. And they would probably never see each other again. Or if they would, they would probably have nothing to say and would only nod their heads and move on.

Kai barked out a humourless laugh. Why _would_ Rei want to talk to him? He had took the boy as his companion on a **whim** (which he would _never_ tell anyone), ripped him out of his home, forced him to stay in a cold and empty castle, gotten him involved in a real soap-opera with his acquaintances which had resulted him being near his deathbed, and not even informing his parents what had happened. For all he had done, he would be glad if Rei would deign to even recognise him.

Shit, he had ruined things well. And it was just as he had started to feel… something. He didn't know what it was, but Rei still intrigued him. Even more so than at the ball. He made his heart beat a little faster and he felt like it was his born duty to protect him of all evil. That he should just take that hand to his own and never let go.

He feared and revered this feeling, but he wanted to know more. He wanted to know anything and everything about Rei, to talk to him again, to sit with him again, to hold his hand again. He wanted to figure out why he felt so anxious around him, and why he was so disappointed in himself right now but at the same time had never felt such contentment.

Kai shook his head in defeat. He would never figure out these things, not without Rei. But that wasn't an option anymore. He had gotten cold feet again and had told the boy to go home. He was too afraid to keep him close by force. He didn't want to be hated by him, but now there would be _nothing_ between them, and that made his mood gloomy. Finally he sighed, and then squared his shoulders.

"Let's go. Back to the Hiwatari Castle," he ordered.

"But isn't that boy coming with us, Hiwatari-sama?" the coachman asked, politely puzzled. Kai took a last long look at the mansion and answered almost forlornly.

"No, he isn't."

The coachman acknowledged the answer, gathered the reins and lashed the whip on the air. The carriage jerked onwards and Kai turned away from the house, determined to leave it behind himself and to look only forward. But as the brougham exited the yard and turned to the road leading back to the city, Kai heard a voice calling his name. First he didn't realise that he wasn't hearing things, but after he did, he quickly poked his head from the window and looked behind.

Rei was running the driveway, calling them to stop the carriage.

"STOP!" Kai ordered with a roar. The coachman made a hasty stop as his master's voice had sounded so urgent. Kai stepped out of the brougham and ran back to Rei.

"Rei? What is it?" he asked worriedly. The neko-jin was out of breath, probably because he was still recovering and he had made a huge spurt to reach them.

"Don't go," Rei said as he took huge gulps of air into his lungs. He grabbed Kai's sleeve and repeated, "Don't go."

"What?" the slate-haired man asked, but a ray of hope was already shining through his gloom. Rei had finally calmed his breath down enough to stand properly and speak in longer sentences.

"Take me with you, Kai," he told the other man. "My position is still open, right?" he confirmed smiling.

"Yes, of course," Kai answered before he could even think about what it meant. But when Rei jumped to his neck to give him a big hug and he realised that their time of separation had just been postponed, he squeezed his companion tightly as if afraid of losing him again soon.

"Thank you, Kai," Rei whispered quietly to his ear, but when Kai wanted to release his hold on Rei to ask him why he was being thanked for, the Chinese boy wouldn't let go. They stayed that way for a while, the Hiwatari heir content to just hold him, but getting the feeling that Rei didn't want to show his face right now.

After a while, someone cleared their throat. The two of them released their hold on each other as the coachman waited his passengers to get in so that they could get a move on. Kai thought he saw Rei quickly brush tears from his eyes, but it could've been just the dust from the road after running behind a carriage making his eyes water, so he let it be. Why would Rei be crying anyway?

They went back to the horse and carriage, and continued their way back to the Hiwatari Castle, their current home. On the way, Rei kept a hold on Kai's hand, squeezing it tightly. The heir had thought about it before but it still struck him as odd that the neko-jin almost craved for physical contact so much. He's only (and best) guess was that Rei had been used to such things at home and didn't know otherwise. Kai just shrugged it off and decided to leave things as they were. Actually he was secretly pleased that he knew something Rei didn't, and he wasn't even going to tell it to him!

But back to reality.

"So, how is your mother doing?" Kai asked casually.

"Oh, she's in China," Rei answered happily. The slate-haired man blinked, puzzled of his companions enthusiasm.

"In… China?" he spluttered, not knowing what he was supposed to say.

"Yeah, she went there to get treatment," the young man explained. Rei seemed so oddly happy about this that Kai decided to go with a topic that had been bothering him for quite some time now. He thought it to be a safe subject and one that might help him find out why the raven-haired youth was acting so funny.

"May I ask what she is getting treated for?" he asked gently (his political side immediately affecting his speech when he was asking something). Rei suddenly became more serious and he looked out the window but his hand squeezed Kai's a little tighter.

"She's got abnormal swelling in her stomach," he said in monotone. "I know it's painful, even though she's tried to hide it, and the pain makes her lose her appetite and most of her sleep. She also can't have any more children," Rei told Kai, but then smiled a little and gave a small laugh. "Have I told you why I dressed up as a girl at your ball, Kai?"

The Hiwatari heir was bewildered by this sudden change of topic, but only slowly shook his head in negative. "No, you haven't."

"You see, my mother has always wanted a girl. She's never said it, but we all knew it. She's always wanted to have a little princess that she could dote on. Buy clothes to her, do her hair, all that kind of girly stuff. Instead, she got seven sons: the irony of life, right? So when she found out that I had taken the dare to go to the ball dressed as a woman, she was _thrilled_," Rei told him, now grinning from ear to ear, lost in the story. "I hadn't realised it before --but An-Wen knew, I'm sure of it—but I'm the prettiest one from our family. You know, the one that would pass easiest for a girl. So, mother was _ecstatic_ when she got to play with my hair and try different hair-dos, and to pick out my dress and the jewellery to go with it… You should have seen her. She was almost _glowing_ with happiness. Now that I think about it, that dare was the best thing that could've happened to her, I'm sure of it," Rei ended contently.

Kai looked at his companion's honestly joyful expression. The lengths this boy would go for his loved ones… It was incredible. It actually made him feel a little jealous. But as he recognised that it was so called 'good jealousy' he let himself be just as envious as he could be. There was nothing else he would rather be jealous of. To Rei, his family really meat everything, and right now, Kai was his family, so he would have to try to live up to that.

"I'm sure An-Wen isn't the only one that has noticed," Kai said cryptically while smiling a little. Rei just looked at him a little confused as they just passed the gates to the Hiwatari Castle.

"What do you mean?" the Chinese boy asked and they stepped out of the carriage. Kai just gave him a secretive smile that irked Rei's pride a little. Was he laughing at him for dressing up in drag now?

"Rei!" a new voice called suddenly, and the two males turned to see who was talking. A blue-haired boy dressed like a samurai jogged towards them, couple of people walking behind him at a more leisure pace. The neko-jin stared at this young man and felt like he had seen him before. The hair and the swords were a hint, he knew it. But who would… And then he remembered. His eyes widened at he recognised the Japanese man in front of him.

"Takao?!"

* * *

Ha haa! I'm finally getting the last of my characters in! … Well, actually not quite yet. Half-way there, though.


	10. Ch10: Hisashiburi

14.9.2008

Disclaimer: I'll scan and post the rights to Bakuten Shoot Beyblade when I get them, but for now I have to settle for this.

A/N: I think I have this disease called 'Cannot-Finish-Stories'. There haven't been found a cure yet, but I'm doing my best to overcome it one day. I heard reviews are the best medicine for this kind of sickness, so I'm deeply grateful to all those who have told me their feelings about my story. **THANK YOU FOR THE REVIEWS**. Unfortunately, I won't be answering chapter nine's reviews, but fear not, that will only happen this once! (Not like you would remember what you wrote, anyway.) I've had especially fun with those guessing how this will continue, so I would like to request more: So, **please tell me you thoughts about how you think this story will continue/end? ****Use your imagination and go wild!**

**  
WANTED dead or alive**: Fanfic called '**Bless the Broken Road**'! Song by the same name by Rascal Flatts as inspiration. First chapter was named as 'GYBALLTAOOOH' and the last 'The Death of Tala Ivanov'. Reward possible. Tip-line is now open.

**About the Japanese titles**: The Japanese name of the chapter titles are the same as here in the chapter itself, in English. They are not word-to-word translations; some have been modified to _mean_ the same thing, so as not to sound coarse. Same with the story title, but with a little more underlying meaning in Japanese: 'ore' I, me (only used by men, egoistic). 'no' 's (genitive). 'conpanion' companion (English written in Japanese). 'ni' to (indicates direction). 'nare' become (rude and authoritative conjugation). So, it's someone saying, telling the other 'Become My Companion!'

End of explanation. I hope I didn't just confuse anyone further.

As they are actually supposed to speak Japanese in here, the English is in Japanese (to make it really confusing). Max will talk like he does in the Japanese version: Japanese with some random English words here and there. Words underlined are 'in English'.

Beta by Kuro-chan and me. Some help from Zane and alexandriel as well.

"An author is an amateur who didn't give up."

* * *

Be My Companion

Chapter ten: Long time no see

_by rebecca85_

* * *

"_Takao?!"_

* * *

Rei stared at the man jogging lightly towards him, and his face closed off. Instinctively, he slid his right leg slightly back, balancing himself, moving his centre to be just that; his _centre_. Kai frowned slightly in confusion as he noticed his once-again companion settling in a stance that could not be mistaken anything else than a battle form. Rei's mind focused, seeing only his target and his breathing calmed down. In alarm, the Hiwatari heir was just about to shout a warning to his ill-fated guest, when he actually _looked_ at Takao.

The man clad in traditional Japanese samurai attire donned the exact same focused expression on his face as Rei. Looking into his eyes, you could see a determined and calculating warrior. Takao and Rei were almost oozing fighting spirit and the air seemed to shimmer in their intense mind-set.

A terrifying _kiai_-shout split the air as Rei charged forward. Kai wouldn't admit if asked later, but he visibly jumped at the sound and took a few steps back to be out of the battle-zone, where Rei and Takao now clashed. First, Rei tried a few simple, straight-forward attacks aimed for the head and chest, but as Takao dodged these with surprising ease, the Chinese boy became sly.

This time the attacks came from blind spots; with vigour he used feigns and increased the pace. Now Takao had to block the hits rather than just move out of the way, but he still was only defending himself.

Then the air shifted.

Suddenly Takao was showering Rei with hits and the roles were reversed. But soon the Chinese boy caught up to the change and the match evened out. Both contestants wore the same expression of determination and concentration, but if you were to think that they had lost the sense of their surroundings, you would be severely mistaken. At one point when the pair neared the carriage still parked on the courtyard, Rei back-flipped _on top of it_. Mouth open, Kai could only stare in awe as his kitten tried to drop-kick his opponent, but failing by a hair's breadth.

Then something unexpected happened; in one swift move, Takao unsheathed his _wakizashi_, took a hold of Rei's hair and pressed the blunt side of the blade against Rei's throat. The air itself seemed to freeze in this sudden change of events. Kai held his breath as he waited for their next move.

"Weapons aren't allowed, Takao," Rei stated calmly, relaxing in his position, and smiling a little sadly. Suddenly the tension evaporated like someone had opened a window in a stuffy room as Takao sighed loudly and hung his head low, obviously being a little over-dramatic about it.

"I _know_ that," he whined as he loosened his hold on Rei's tresses and took away his blade. His pose was one of disappointment and resignation when Rei turned to calmly examine him. "Why can't you just _once_ forget who I am and just _fight_?" the Japanese man groaned.

Rei's mouth twitched. "You know very well that I can't do that. Besides, we have audience," the boy smiled. Takao's eyes squinted.

"You mean…?" he gestured to the on-lookers, and Rei smiled enigmatically.

"Maybe," he only said.

"You're no fun," the Japanese man huffed and sheathed his weapon in one swift move.

"I doubt this would've been any more exciting. I was already lagging behind, better to stop while I'm ahead, eh?" Rei smiled and reached to hug his old friend. "You've gained speed while I wasn't looking," he joked warm-heartedly. Takao returned the gesture, squeezing his younger friend tightly. As they parted, Takao took a good look at Rei and frowned.

"But you haven't," he said slightly worried. "Are you okay? Am I seeing things or are you a little pale?" he asked and watched for Rei's reaction. He was right on doing it or he would've missed the slight thinking pause the Chinese boy did while glancing away, as if thinking up a lie. Or not a lie per se – Rei rarely out-right lied – but a way to conceal part of the truth.

"Of course he's not okay," said an annoyed voice, saving the moment for Rei. Yuriy marched to them and placed his hands on his hips. He was clearly _not_ pleased about how things had been developing.

"The doctor ordered rest and _light_ exercise. You can hardly call this 'light', Rei!" he berated. "And where have you _been_? I left Boris with you to keep company and you just _took off_!" Rei grimaced a little at that and gave a quick apologetic glance at the older Russian who was giving him a half-glare.

But before Yuriy could really start to ride on the steam he had gathered, Takao cut him off, catching on what was being said.

"'By doctor's orders'? What is he saying, Rei? We're you hurt or something?" the blue-haired boy asked, demanding to know what was wrong with his friend. Unknowingly to him, this was also the very thing that efficiently made Yuriy very quiet. Rei glanced at the Russian boy, and decided a little editing of the truth and a diversion was in order.

"I was by the lake behind the Hiwatari Castle, my foot slipped and I managed to fall from the pier into the water," he explained quickly and tried to look a bit sheepish, hoping to ease Takao's worries while making it seem like there was nothing more to the story.

"But why were you there in the first place? You can't even swim – heck, you just don't like large quantities of water in a same place, period. So how come you managed to get _in_ one? You're probably the most balanced person I know!" Takao exclaimed. Rei knew that his friend was only asking logical questions but the Japanese boy didn't know how hard they were being. Rei couldn't lie - that would only lead to more lies - but he could try to evade the subject a little further.

"I had something on my mind. I wasn't really looking where I was placing my feet. And, you know, I've been trying to get used to 'large quantities of water in a same place', Takao," he said with a little mock. "Guess it was a doomed attempt," he grinned and shrugged to show the hopelessness, but flinched in the inside. If possible, he would've wanted to avoid saying something like this in front of Yuriy. He couldn't look at him now or Takao would take notice and realise how quiet the redhead was being, and would probably catch onto something. He was annoyingly perceptive that way; he would know something was wrong.

"Hmph. Still wielding randomly that toothpick of yours, eh, Kinomiya?" Kai said suddenly. Rei looked at the man and blinked. What had gotten his knickers in a twist? Not that it mattered; Kai was doing a brilliant job of distracting Takao from the topic.

"What did you say, Kai?!" Takao immediately rounded on the Hiwatari heir. "Want to try it on, huh?"

"My pleasure," Kai said darkly, and drew his own double-edged sword that had been with him mostly for ceremonious reasons and appearance - until now. Without giving Takao time to draw, he charged. But the Japanese man wasn't that easily thwarted. He aptly directed the blade away with his wrist-protector and drew his one-edged long-sword with another.

Rei was only a little worried. It seemed that Kai was at least acquaintances with Takao, so he would also know that the man had been raised in a dojo in a family of recognized swordsmen. The Chinese boy just didn't know how to deal with the outcome that was to come, which slightly bothered him.

As Rei had expected, Takao sparred a few hits, testing the level of skill he was fighting against but seemed to decide that he wasn't in the mood for a prolonged clashing of wills, so he made a quick attack and finished it in three seconds. Kai was left looking stunned as the cold blade pressed against his throat, cutting it clean off had it been the sharp side of the sword. Even in the midst of battle, Takao had room to play it safe. This aggravated the Russian man even further, but there was nothing he could do. He obviously wasn't in the same league of the sport.

As manners demanded, Takao stepped back, sheathed his _katana_ and bowed rigidly. Kai just nodded his head imperiously and thrust his own sword back to its holster, feeling frustrated and angry of his loss but having no idea why he had started the fight. Something about Takao just irritated him.

"Ta-ka-o," said a calm voice, almost sing-songing the name. "Was he any good?"

They now noticed that a boy had emerged from the small crowd gathering on the front yard, having come down the steps at a much more leisure pace. His hair was of rich yellow, like the shining sun, and his eyes the clearest blue Rei had seen. They rivalled that of the sky in its most peaceful times. The boy couldn't have been older than Rei; he had an air of mischief about him even though he didn't seem amused at the moment. His head was slightly tilted to one side as he regarded Takao and his expression was solemn.

"Ah, Max," Takao stated, avoiding the awkward moment that may have descended upon them had he answered the question. "Where were you? I thought you came with the rest of us? Is dad still inside?"

But instead of deigning to reply, this Max boy moved his gaze to Kai and looked him with detached curiosity. Rei was starting to wonder how the two communicated normally since they were only ignoring what the other was saying.

"You're not that good," the boy stated to Kai. At this, the Hiwatari heir bristled. "No need to get your feathers ruffled because I say so," he continued calmly if maybe slightly in defence. "But compared to Takao, you _suck_." Then he completely ignored the man and turned back to Takao. "Your dad needs you inside. Stop playing and go see him, he's driving me mad with his worrying."

"So, Rei," Takao said and the boy addressed to almost fell over. _'Communication, anyone?!'_

"I'll probably see you later, okay? We're staying here until Hiromi's birthday, so it's kinda inevitable, don'tcha think?" And with that he gave Rei a wink and jogged back inside, giving the rest of them a wave. An unnatural silence fell and Rei was unnerved to realize that Max was now staring at _him_.

"What?" he finally had to ask. The boy came a little closed, tilting his head in another direction and extended his hand.

"_Boku no namae wa Makusu._ Nice to meet you._ Antta, ii ude wo mottenja nee ka. Kiniittaze._"

Rei froze with his hand extended. He knew English but he wasn't fluent with it. When it was just thrown at him like that, he wasn't really sure how to respond. Had he understood correctly? Should he answer in English in return? But he wasn't that sure of his level of skill, yet!

"He says he's name's Max. He recognizes your skill and seems to have taken a liking to you," Boris suddenly spoke up. After all, he was the only one who knew that Rei had some problems with English. Suddenly the Chinese boy felt certain that everyone else had _no_ problems understanding. Or answering, if the need should arise.

"_Makusu-san mo, yoroshiku,_ (Nice to meet you too, Max)" he stammered out, blushing a bit. Max first blinked a few times in surprise but then grinned at him.

"Don't worry, I'm trying to learn to speak fluently Japanese, so I'm not even supposed to use English." Then the boy took off, running up the steps two at a time and soon vanished inside.

"Ah, Rei," Yuriy suddenly spoke up, remembering something quite important. "You should go too. Your father is here."

"What?! My father?" Rei exclaimed in surprise. He immediately started ascending the stairs, just short on running up. To Yuriy, he just threw over his shoulder, "You could've said that sooner, bastard," but there was no bite in his words. The redhead just shrugged innocently and the rest of them followed as well. Not like there was anything to do on the courtyard.

But when they all finally arrived in the lounge where the new guests were (Rei having to come back to ask where he was supposed to go), they were met with a lot more people that they had imagined. The most noticeable addition was the pink blur that made a beeline to Rei on the second they entered, laughing and calling his name in delight.

"Mao!" Rei breathed as they hugged tightly. Right behind her was her brother Lai, who exchanged a handshake and a pat to the back with the Chinese companion. "Lai," Rei recognized when they parted. "What are you two doing in here?"

"We're here for the Princess' birthday," the petite girl explained, exited. "Lord Hiwatari stopped by so we decided to come with him and your father, although it's a little early."

Rei then noticed the tall Chinese man talking with Takao and two other men, one presumably being Takao's father, Max standing aside. He didn't bother to dismiss himself as he had just seen someone he had been dearly missing for many months now. Rei strode purposefully forward and was finally noticed.

The Chinese man had a very serious and strict look upon him, but when he saw Rei his face melted into a warm smile. "_Rei_…" he said with affection and Rei, completely forgetting where he was and who he was with, almost ran to his father's embrace.

"_Father_," he said with emotion, almost as if saying it aloud confirmed that his father was indeed there.

"How good it is to see you, Rei," his father confirmed as he returned the tight squeeze.

"So this is your little Rei, Tai-Hua-san," interrupted a deep voice. The father and son separated to see a tall man, unmistakably of Russian heritage with deep grey hair and red-brown eyes. He looked very much something Kai would appear in twenty years. "Well, maybe not so little. Eighteen already?" the High Lord Hiwatari inquired.

"N-not yet, _tonou_," Rei stammered, blushing a bit at the attention he got while bowing respectfully. "I turn eighteen in a little over two months, _tonou_," he clarified politely.

"Very well. We shall have to honour the occasion when the time comes, then," the man continued. Rei's eyes shot up in surprise, and in slight alarm.

"No, no need for that, milord," he hurried to decline.

"Rei," his father reprimanded. "You mustn't disgrace the lord with your selfishness. Accept this generous act with grace, my son."

"Y-yes, father, of course." Then, facing the High Lord again, "Thank you very much for your kind offer. I would be honoured, _tonou_." The man smiled contently and nodded gracefully. Then he seemed to have remembered something.

"I recall your father telling me that you are acting as my son's companion now, Rei-kun?" The Chinese boy gulped. _'Kai hasn't told him directly?!'_

"Yes, father. That is correct," Kai interrupted before Rei could form an answer that would be polite enough in a situation as such. High Lord Hiwatari seemed a little displeased at this as his brow furrowed slightly.

"Son, if I may have a word?" the man asked and turned to walk out of the room.

"Of course, father," the younger Hiwatari replied calmly and followed his father out of the room. Rei was a little worried about their strange behaviour, but soon his attention was stolen elsewhere when his father started telling him about his mother.

She had arrived safely at the Chen Estate where she would be living during her stay. Tai-Hua and The Hiwatari Lord had just finished their business in China and decided to travel together back to Sacarn as their business here would've brought them together anyway. Lai and Mao decided to join them so they wouldn't later on have to arrange their own retinue. Then they had met the Kinomiyas and Max at the harbour of Izur, planning on a surprise visit, and decided to all arrive together. He also explained how proud he was that Rei had finally taken an interest in the social ladder and had seemed to have found some friends at the same time as well. (To which Rei sweatdropped a little.)

"Well, now. I think Mikhail- I mean, Hiwatari-_tonou_, the Kinomiyas and I are leaving first thing tomorrow, so I must go prepare for the journey."

"Eh? You're leaving already? But you just came back," Rei said, astounded, trying his best not to whine.

"But we have to check all the harbours and be back before Princess Hiromi's birthday party, and Sacarn isn't such a small country. There have been complaints about smugglers as well, so this time the inspection might take a while," Tai-Hua explained. Rei felt a little cheated, having to be parted of his father so soon after just meeting him in a long time. He sighed. _'I guess this is the life of a politician, huh?'_ he thought with a small smile, and after they said a small good-bye, Rei's father retreated to his room with a promise not to leave without a proper farewell.

After Takao's father and brother had also retreated to their chambers, and Rei was catching up with Lai and Mao, and introducing them to everyone, Kai returned to the sitting room. Rei noticed he seemed a little gloom, but didn't comment on it as the man soon joined in the conversation to protect his pride.

"No use saying that, Kai," Max sighed, shaking his head and making an overly-dramatic face of hopelessness. "Takao just won the Japan's National _Kendou_ Tournament a little over a month ago. There's _no way_ you can beat him with a ceremonial sword."

"Don't use my name with such familiarity," Kai bristled. Takao laughed and gave him a big slap on the back.

"Oh, don't be so rigid. We're all friends here, right?" he smiled widely.

"I don't remember being friends with someone I don't know," Kai answered stiffly. If Rei was reading the situation correctly, there were some sparks flying between Max and Kai, but for what reason, he couldn't fathom.

"Like you are with everyone you do know," Boris muttered from the _goban_ he was examining. Yuriy watched intently as Rei placed another stone, and his fiery red eyebrows furrowed; he was trying to figure out the game with no luck so far.

"So why don't you tell us how you met Max, Takao? I'm curious about that as well," Rei suggested to his friend.

"Okay," Takao agreed easily and sat on one of the armchairs. "Well, we've actually known each other for over eight years now—"

"Eight?!" Rei exclaimed in surprise and dropped the stone he was holding. Yuriy frowned and took it off from the table, waiting for Boris' move. "Why haven't I heard of this before?"

"You have! Remember when my dad wanted me to start learning English properly, right? Because it's _such_ an embarrassment for a son of an ambassador to _not _know the common language," Takao rolled his eyes, "so he made me to write to Max in English. His father is an acquaintance of my father, so he thought it would be a good idea. We wrote to each other for about five years, then Max came to Japan to live with me and now I'm pretty fluent with speaking as well." On the last remark Takao gave them a smug look and this time it was Rei who rolled his eyes.

"Good for you. But why did Max come to Japan? He said he isn't learning Japanese, so…" Rei left the sentence hanging in the air. Takao looked slightly uncomfortable and he glanced at his blond friend who was looking a bit down.

"My parents were having some problems at the time, and I just wanted to get away," Max told them truthfully.

"So you moved to another country?! Across the world!" Rei exclaimed.

"Must've been some problem…" Yuriy mumbled but didn't take his eyes from the board. He was determined to figure it out, and damn anyone trying to interfere. Takao sweatdropped.

"So, have things gotten any better at home after that, Max?" Rei asked after composing himself. The blond boy looked surprised.

"Yeah. After daddy didn't have be at home all the time to take care of me, they've been off together around the world and are now trying to make a machine that will move by itself. My mom's a scientist and my dad's a mechanic, you see."

Rei was dumfounded. "So, why are you two still living together?"

"Oh, that," Takao said flippantly. "I thought it was obvious; we're seeing each others."

There was a moment of stunned silence. Then Yuriy commented, "Is everyone gay these days?"

* * *

_kiai_ - lit. 'fighting spirit'; name of the shout in martial arts

_wakizashi_ - lit. 'side arm'; 30 and 60 cm (12 and 24 inches), with an average of 50 cm (20 inches). Similar to but shorter than a _katana_; usually worn together with the _katana_ by the samurai or swordsmen of feudal Japan. The _katana_ is often called 'the sword' or 'the long sword' and the _wakizashi_ 'the companion sword'. The _katana_ is also referred as "one-edged long-sword" in the story.

_kendou_ - lit. 'way of the blade/sword' (Eng: Kendo); Japanese martial art of sword-fighting.

daddy - Max really calls his father 'daddy' even thought the man has requested many times to be called 'dad'. Max answers; Hai, daddy.

Hope I didn't miss anything... I apologize for any mistakes or errors.


	11. Ch11: Fushitachi

28.9.2008

Disclaimer: As I think about all the things I own, I come to realise that Beyblade isn't one of them. So leave me alone with my mortgage.

A/N: My English has completely taken a hike somewhere. I can't remember the simplest of words and it's hindering my writing. Grr.

Okay, last time I asked about how you think this will end/continue, although none of you indulged me. (_pout_) Now I have another problem for you to solve: Your favourite character is royalty, but the King and Queen are complete idiots and you want to save your character from them. So, who is your favourite character, what you would offer in exchange for the royal descendant, and why?

"It is a wise father who knows his own child."

* * *

My Companion

Chapter eleven: Fathers and Sons

_by rebecca85_

* * *

_There was a moment of stunned silence. Then Yuriy commented, "Is everyone gay these days?"_

* * *

It took a moment for Rei to realise what Yuriy was implying but before he could (or needed to) comment on it, Lai said; "I'm not."

"Fine, ok. You're the exception of the rule, then," the redhead corrected, feigning indignation. They all laughed good-naturally, but Rei quickly diverted to safer topics before anyone would notice that he had been included in the remark. As had been Kai, too. Interesting.

"But you really are a man of many talents, Rei," Yuriy murmured after a while as he watched the game proceed to territory-counting. Rei won, of course, but Boris needed the practice so they went through the game meticulously.

The neko-jin looked at the Russian boy with raised eyebrows at the odd comment.

"You know this complicated game and are even teaching it to this block-head," (Boris gave him a shove) "and you performed some wild moves out there. What are you, the Kung Fu master?"

Rei sweatdropped a little and not just to what Yuriy said. He refrained from mentioning how wrong the Russian boy was using the term as it in itself already had the word 'master'. To his ears, it sounded like Yuriy had said Merit Master master. But he skipped this small little detail and ploughed on to the real question. Or tried to, but Boris was faster.

"Yeah, Rei is really good with martial arts. He practices everyday to stay in shape." Yuriy gave a long look at his boyfriend with a raised eyebrow. "What? I've seen him training, that's all. And he told me himself."

This time it was Rei's turn to look at Boris. "You _have_? When?" he asked, incredulous.

"Well, it was before… well, you know. I just woke up a bit early and took a walk. It was by pure accident that I happened to find you training."

"So that's why Takao always says that Rei is his only true competition," Max wondered aloud. "But why won't you fight for real then?"

Rei's cheeks tinted a little red at this praise, and he coughed a bit before answering. "How would it look like if we, two sons of ambassadors, would fight with weapons? Not too good, I can tell you. Besides, it's been forbidden for decades for ambassadors to fight without a reason. We're stretching the rules as it is; I don't want people to think that there's a war brewing on the horizon."

"A valid point," Max nodded in understanding. "But too bad for Takao. He's too good for his own good," he said and gave his boyfriend a pat. Said boyfriend gave a huge sigh.

"Yeah… I like sword-fighting, I really do," Takao started, "but I just can't help the feeling that there's something missing. Some challenge, a connection, a purpose. You know?" he asked from his audience, but they just mostly shook their heads.

"I'm sure there's a purpose just waiting for you somewhere. Or maybe you were just born in the wrong era?" suggested Rei.

Takao sighed again. "Maybe. Doesn't help much, though," he said with a defeated slump against his boyfriend who started petting him soothingly. Kai rolled his eyes and mumbled something that suspiciously sounded like "drama-queen."

As they continued their light conversation with occasional jabs from Kai to Takao and then from Max to Kai, Rei noticed that Mao and Lai kept mostly to themselves. He could relate to that as they probably didn't know any of them, save for Rei. He was actually surprised that the female Chen was even staying with them as the protocol probably didn't approve a single woman being in a company of so many unfamiliar men. But Lai was probably the alleviating factor in this matter, so he didn't dwell further on it.

Thankfully, they got a bit of a light snack during their conversation, after which Rei had to excuse himself to get changed. The travelling had left his clothes a bit dusty and his 'light exercise' had almost glued them to his skin. And it seemed like he wasn't the only one wanting to part from the group for a while as first Mao and Lai announced that they could use some lying down for a bit and then Takao and Max said to need a moment on their own. Soon they all agreed to meet later in the same room before dinner and then parted on their own ways.

Rei headed straight for the shower and was in his tower in no time, feeling fresh again. There he changed to clean clothes and thought a bit what the day had brought with it. He could never be grateful enough to Kai for forcing him out of his home, he realized. If he had stayed there, his mother would've never had the heart to leave and everything would've stayed exactly the same as they had been, probably until his mother would've died from the illness.

Rei buried his face in his hands. It was just so much to take in. Just yesterday he had been thinking what kind of a mess he was in for just cross-dressing once, but now… The fate obviously had some kind of a bigger plan for him; that was for sure.

His musing was interrupted by a soft knock on the door.

Rei raised his face to look on the door as if it had knocked on itself before tentatively saying, "Come in."

The door opened to reveal the Hiwatari heir, who closed it quietly behind him. If Rei wasn't seeing completely double, he was guessing that the man was trying to be stealthy. Kai looked around to make sure they were really alone and sighed deeply. He seemed to slump a bit as he made way to sit beside his companion. Rei just gave him a raised eyebrow.

Kai ruffled his hair, not knowing what to say. Finally he asked, "How do you know Kinomiya Takao?"

"He spent the summer here a few years ago when his father and brother were having some negotiations going on," Rei told him obediently, wondering where all this was coming from.

"Right. He's the Japan's ambassador. Of course you would know him," Kai muttered to himself.

"Is this about our fight earlier?" Rei sighed. "Look, I've always had a weak body - it's a birth-defect - so I was taught some martial arts to keep my health up. I wasn't allowed to be away from home that much, so it was nice to have someone close to my age around. Who I wasn't related to, I mean. Takao has been learning _kendou_ and other martial arts since he was a child, so we hit it off really well. So well, actually, that we got a little lecture about fighting," Rei smiled a little sheepishly. "That's when I learned it the hard way that we _cannot_ fight, no matter how much Takao wants to."

"And those two?" Rei frowned. He could tell the man wasn't here to talk pleasantries, so what's with all the questions?

"Chen Lai and Mao are family-friends from the palace. I've known them my whole life and I see them at least once every year," he answered curtly, hoping to make a point. The next time the Hiwatari heir opened his mouth, the Chinese boy had had enough.

"Kai," Rei finally interrupted. "Is there something wrong?" he asked.

Kai sighed in frustration and raked his hand through his hair. He took another deep breath, but this was obviously to brace himself for what he had to say. Rei waited in growing trepidation; he didn't know what to expect and he was worried for his companion.

"There's been…" Kai stopped to brace himself. "…a loss in the family. My aunt and her husband have been in an accident. The funeral is in three days."

Rei was horrified, and concerned. "Are you okay? Do you know what happened?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. We were pretty close, but… yeah. There was a fire at their estate. Their only son was having a walk with the nanny so he survived, but they and a couple of maids along with the mansion was burned to the ground."

"To think that can happen…" he said, lost for words.

"Yeah," Kai agreed. "But the thing is, I was wondering if you could come too, as my companion?" he asked with a little haunted look in his eyes. Rei guessed this was a lot harder to the man than he let on.

"Do you really have to go? I can see that you're not very comfortable with this… Isn't your father enough?"

"Of course I'm not comfortable with this!" Kai suddenly bust out as he stood up and went to stand by the balcony door. "But my father is leaving for the inspection round regardless, so it'll be my duty to make an appearance at the funeral." He sounded composed enough, but there was resignation in his voice; he really didn't want to face this alone, not so abruptly.

Rei stood up and walked to the slate-haired man. He coaxed him to turn around and then enveloped him in a comforting hug. After a while, Kai returned the hug with vigour.

"Of course I'll come," Rei said quietly. "I'm your companion after all, okay?" Kai just nodded in Rei's hair, but didn't answer verbally. They stayed like that for a while until the Hiwatari heir could pull himself together again, and they parted.

"Thanks. I needed that, I think," Kai admitted. Rei gave him a smile.

"Yeah, I think you needed it too," he grinned. Kai gave a small smile in return, which was enough for Rei to know that he would be fine.

"I actually wanted to talk to you about something, Kai," Rei continued, partly to distract him from the gloomy prospect of a funeral. He led the man to sit on the bed and turned to him.

"About this whole companion affair," he started. "I really am your companion now, right?" he wanted to confirm.

Kai shook his head and smiled humourlessly. "You're not the only one asking that lately."

Rei ignored this comment for now and ploughed on. "But I don't want us to be _just_ companions; I want us to have something like Yuriy and Boris." This made Kai freeze and his eyebrows ascended slowly up to his hairline, disaster completely forgotten for the moment.

"You see, I want us to be friends, allies, _nakama_, not just master and servant. I want our relationship to be loyal, honest, strong, something we can both rely on. Do you think we could have that?"

Kai looked at Rei and stopped to really think; could he do that? Was he ready to let go of his reserves and just give it all he could? Did he _want_ to?

The answer was ridiculously simple.

"I honestly don't know if we can have that," he told Rei frankly. "But I do want to try."

Rei's face melted into a joyful expression. "Thank you, Kai."

This honest gratitude was something the slate-haired man had rarely met and it baffled him. With a new, fluttery sensation in his chest, the Russian man felt his face warm up a little as he tried to dismiss this situation he didn't know how to handle. "Yeah, sure," he just mumbled and rose from the bed.

"I think I need to… do some stuff," Kai said vaguely and walked to the door. Rei just grinned, feeling happy that the man wasn't so depressed anymore.

"Okay. I'll be down in a minute. Maybe I can help you with your 'stuff' then," the Chinese boy said, trying very hard to contain his laughter. Strangely enough, Kai blushed even harder and with a stiff 'good-bye' he was out the door in a flash. Rei blinked a couple of times, confused, then just shrugged it off. Who was he to decipher the mood-swings of an aristocrat?

Rei touched his hair and frowned at the still-moist locks. He took a brush and resignedly started pulling it trough the long strands, advancing from the bottom up. When the raven tresses were finally sorted through and gleaming, he braided them while still a bit damp to get a neat plait. Then he checked his appearance once more from the large mirror standing in a corner of the room, and after finding himself acceptable, he headed downstairs. As he descended the stairs, Becky was there to tell him that his father had asked him for a visit before dinner.

The maid showed him the way to the right room and knocked softly for Rei, before the Chinese boy entered the chambers.

"Ah, Rei," his father said upon realizing who had entered. "Glad you could make it; I was worried we wouldn't have time to talk at all today."

"Of course, father. Is there anything particular that you wanted to talk to me about?"

"Can't a father just want to see his son?" Tai-Hua asked, feigning wounded. Rei grinned.

"No, he can't," he answered playfully but truthfully. His father sighed.

"Honestly, that woman… What did Lin teach you kids to make you so perceptive? Kuai said the same thing when I wanted to talk with him."

This piqued Rei's interest. "How is Kuai doing? And Qian? He went to China with mother, right?"

"They're doing fine. Qian is having the time of his life with all those Chinese girls. I'm just dreading the time when _you_ start to get interested in girls," at this the man shook his head and sighed. "Tell me you'll be a bit more sensible about relationships than your brothers?"

"I'll try my best," Rei grinned. Tai-Hua gestured his son to sit down while he moved around the room collecting his belonging to his suit-case.

"Kuai stayed in China with your mother and Qian. Initially he was supposed to come with us for the inspection round, but I thought it best for him to stay and learn something about the Chinese way of politics. It'll be useful for him, and besides, with the Kinomiyas and Lord Hiwatari, there're plenty of us checking the borders already. I might even cut the inspection short to get back to Lin…" Tai-Hua mused. "Ah, here is it." He found something from his belongings and offered it to his son.

"Here. You're mother sent this for you. She said you didn't take anything with you when you came here, and thought you might need this." His father was holding a white hair-band in his hand that Rei recognised as his own. The Chinese boy took it with pleased gratitude.

"Thank you! I have been in _such_ trouble without this, you have no idea," he exclaimed with relief, and immediately put it in his hair, extending it to cover the whole braid, the red-rimmed ends holding tight. He swished his hair to-and-fro for a bit and found that he felt his hair being comfortably secured. No more ribbons that fell of as soon as he turned up-side-down!

Tai-Hua looked at his son for a while, and then came to sit with him, the serious air about him stopping Rei from his testing. He looked at his son's eyes. "I think this is good for you, Rei. I know your mother is worried of your well-being, but you've rarely been out of the house; I was worried that you couldn't make any friends. I'm glad to be proven wrong, son."

Rei sweatdropped inwardly, and thought it best not to dwell on the past; parents didn't need to know _everything_. At least not the exact _how_ he had become friends with Yuriy and Boris. Or Kai. Or Takao. But then Rei remembered again.

"Father… Why wasn't I told that mother could be cured?"

"Oh, Rei…" Tai-Hua sighed. "We couldn't. We really just couldn't tell you."

"But why?!" he asked desperately. "If I had known, I wouldn't have kept her here! I could've even gone with her to—"

"Exactly."

"Eh?"

"You weren't – and probably still aren't – fit to travel such a strenuous journey. If you'd known, you would've insisted on going, and that would have put more stress on your mother than anything. You know you're a precious son to her, and she couldn't have lived with herself if something should happen to you. No, it was best just not to tell. That way we also avoided placing the burden on your shoulders or on hers. Everyone stayed content that way."

Rei felt trapped as his feelings of betrayal clashed with the pure logic. It was distressful to know that his father was absolutely right: He was still blaming himself for being in her way of recovery, so to know that he was an obstacle… everyday being reminded of it and not being able to do anything about it… Yes, it would have probably driven him insane eventually. Shit, he really was in a debt of gratitude for the strict Hiwatari heir for not letting him get away with his crime. He would really need to work his ass off to repay the man.

Finally Rei took a deep breath and released it in one go, as if to rid himself of any further morbid thoughts.

"I understand, father. I may not be happy about it, but I can see the reason and I agree with it. It would have been intolerable to know that she could get treatment but wouldn't, because of me."

"I knew you were a bright child Rei. You've always been like the thunder you are, fast as light slashing through the darkness and illuminating us all."

"Thanks, dad," Rei said, dropping all the formality for this once and giving his father a quick hug. Then he composed himself again and stood up. "I guess I should leave you with your packing so you will be done before dinner. I also have a prior engagement, so I must take my leave now."

"Speaking of engagements, Rei, what are your thoughts about Mao?" his father said, interrupting his departure. The boy stopped to think this one through.

"I don't know. She's nice enough and very pretty, but I would like to have more time to think about our engagement," he said truthfully. His father smiled a bit sadly.

"It would feel nice to have all my sons married off before I retire, but I guess you really aren't that interested of making your old man feel secure."

"It's not about that, father. I assure you, if I don't find a suitable partner till I turn eighteen, I will marry Chen Mao, but for now, I would like to just concentrate on my new position and the experience of having some fun. Would you allow me to do that?"

Tai-Hua smiled warmly to his son. "Of course. I don't know what I was thinking; marrying my son off before he's even out of the crib. But I take that as a promise: If you don't have someone on your mind by your eighteenth birthday, I shall expect some grand dowry from the Chens."

"Consider it done, father. Although, I'm not in the crib anymore," he reminded, sounding pseudo-serious as he opened the door.

"Yes, yes. My all-grown-up son, that you are," his father answered good-naturally.

"Well, maybe not grown-up, but I'm better than a baby," Rei grinned playfully and disappeared through the door, leaving his father shaking his head to his antics.

He had gotten as far as two doors down the corridor when a deep voice stopped him. When he turned around, he realized it to belong to the elder Hiwatari – High Lord Hiwatari Mikhail. The man beckoned him inside, and won by curiosity, Rei followed him. Upon closing the door, the impressive man turned to regard him.

"I thought we might clear a few things out before I leave matters on Kai's hands again," the man started. This time there was no invitation to sit down or even to enter the room properly, so Rei was left standing by the door, feeling vaguely uncomfortable in a company of such stature.

"I wanted to let you know that I do not find Kai lacking a companion," the High Lord started sternly. "I think he has fared well until now without one and this act of indulge is somewhat out of character for him."

Rei gulped. Was this the part where the man would tell him to get the hell out of his mansion? It wouldn't surprise him; Rei _had_ just appeared in the castle and taken over a position that hadn't been fulfilled for nineteen years, and all this without the man of the house knowing.

But then the gray-haired man sighed and the imposing character seemed to almost drain from him. "But I can't say to know my son very well, so I would be pleased if you could keep him company while his father and mother are away. I am aware that Kai might be lonely but it cannot be helped. We simply have no time to indulge in such sentiments, which may or may not have left him lonely. I would be honoured to have one of the Kons as my son's companion, if it would be alright?"

Rei released the breath he had been holding, relieved. "Of course. I have already accepted this position and it is not in my intention to back down on my word, _tonou_."

"Well said, son. I like your attitude. Keep it up and don't let Kai intimidate you," the man encouraged him. "He needs to get used to _not_ always get his way with things, so if there is anything unreasonable he might do, do not hesitate to punish him as you might see fit. Kai might be schooled in politics, but he still has a hard time understanding that he is but one man. Should the need arise, show him his place. You have my permission."

"Yes, sir."

"But let's keep this between us, okay? Can't let him think that you have a backbone just because I ordered you to," the man said with a wink. Rei blinked, stunned at first at this sudden display of humour, but then smiled brightly.

"Yes, sir!"

"I will leave my son to you, Rei-kun. Now, if you would excuse me I have to get ready for dinner," the High Lord said, clearly giving Rei permission to leave. The neko-jin had placed his hand on the doorhandle before he remembered something and turned back.

"Tonou…" he started. As the Hiwatari Lord looked up at him again, Rei continued, "I heard about the funeral; I'm sorry for your loss." The man's features softened and gained a sad tinge.

"Thank you, Rei. I'm starting to see why my son was so intent upon having you here. Take care of him, won't you?"

The Chinese boy said nothing, only bowed respectfully to the man, and exited the room in solemn silence.

* * *

_nakama_ – lit. company; fellow; colleague; associate; comrade; mate; group; circle of friends; partner. Basically close friends who walk the same path in life or have the same goal. Equivocal, which is why I used the Japanese word.

Rei and thunder – Now, Rei's name literally means 'plum' but when pronounced it could mean 'thunder' as well. (Which I believe is the original 'pun' in Beyblade.)

Ha haa! I used 'out of character'! Score!

I apologize for any mistakes or errors. I am but a human with a normal IQ. (I think.)


	12. Ch12: Ore no Hahaue

12.10.2008

Disclaimer: DE-PWND!

I was listening Bokura no Jidai e –Go ahead- by Kinomiya Takao while writing this. I do love his voice. (_swoon_)

Yes, the point about the royalty thing was to get ideas. I'm writing another Beyblade story which involves fairytales and kingdoms and such, but one big idea was missing. Thanks to you guys, I finally got an epiphany.

And about how this ends/continues? I was just curious how obvious the plot is or how in sync I'm with my readers. So no pressure! Besides, they're fun to read.

"Within the core of each of us is the child we once were. This child constitutes the foundation of what we have become, who we are and what we will be."

* * *

My Companion

Chapter twelve: My Mother

_by rebecca85_

* * *

"_I'm starting to see why my son was so intent upon having you here. Take care of him, won't you?"_

Normal 0 21 false false false MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 !-- / Font Definitions / font-face font-family:"ＭＳ 明朝"; panose-1:2 2 6 9 4 2 5 8 3 4; mso-font-alt:"MS Mincho"; mso-font-charset:128; mso-generic-font-family:roman; mso-font-pitch:fixed; mso-font-signature:-536870145 1791491579 18 0 131231 0; font-face font-family:"\ＭＳ 明朝"; panose-1:2 2 6 9 4 2 5 8 3 4; mso-font-charset:128; mso-generic-font-family:roman; mso-font-pitch:fixed; mso-font-signature:-536870145 1791491579 18 0 131231 0; / Style Definitions / p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal mso-style-parent:""; margin:0cm; margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family:"ＭＳ 明朝"; page Section1 size:612.0pt 792.0pt; margin:99.25pt 3.0cm 3.0cm 3.0cm; mso-header-margin:35.4pt; mso-footer-margin:35.4pt; mso-paper-source:0; div.Section1 page:Section1; -- _The Chinese boy said nothing, only bowed respectfully to the man, and exited the room in solemn silence._

* * *

Once Rei had closed the door behind him, he took a huge breath. Being a companion didn't seem as easy as he had first thought. He had a whole person to take care of now! Well, kind of. Thankfully Kai was potty-trained. Then Rei happened to see just the person he wanted to talk to.

"Ah! Boris!" he called to catch the man's attention. Boris turned, and upon seeing Rei, stopped to wait for him to catch up. Together they continued towards the lounge they were supposed to meet everyone else.

"So, did you want to talk to me or what?" Boris asked when Rei didn't say anything at first.

"Ah, yes. I've been thinking about this companion stuff, but I've come to realize that I have no idea what to do. I know the job cursorily but I'm not sure how to apply it, especially as I started this late. So, I was wondering if you could tell me in more detail what a companion is supposed to do," Rei explained. Boris gave him a doubting look and raised an eyebrow.

"And you aren't asking this from Yuriy who _is_ a companion because…?"

"I don't think he would tell me neutrally," Rei told honestly. "It already seems like he's got complete control over your relationship," he admitted a little sheepishly. Boris sweatdropped.

"I guess he's not that good of an example, huh? Well, why aren't you asking Kai then?" the Russian man inquired and Rei looked a little uncomfortable.

"I'm not sure he would be honest with me either, you know? He might just pretend there's nothing for me to do. Besides, I don't want to bother him with this."

"But it's okay to bother me?" Boris teased. Rei's face fell and one could almost see the apology shining on the boy's eyes before he could word it. The Russian man took pity on him. "Okay, okay, I get it. I just have to tell you what a companion does, right?"

Rei nodded, eagerly waiting on how he could finally fulfil his job and be of help for Kai. Boris thought hard for a while, but then he stopped suddenly.

"Wait. What kind of educations have you received?"

Rei was a little stunned by the sudden question and halted as well. "Well, I've never been to school… My mother, father and sometimes even my brothers would teach me things, why?"

Boris rubbed a hand over his face. "This isn't good. A companion is supposed to be on the same level with their partner, as you know, but I don't think you have had any training on the things Kai does, have you?"

Rei looked a little worried. "What does Kai do then?"

"He takes care of this estate and the rented out lands belonging to the Hiwatari's. He also does some of the book-keeping about the trades, I think. You wouldn't happen to know anything about economy?"

Rei made a long face. "We skipped most parts of it since I held no interest whatsoever towards economy. What goes around comes around, huh?"

Boris grinned suddenly and threw an arm on Rei's shoulders. "Then you can just stay as a housewife and cook his meals or something!" Rei blushed to beet red and hastily opened the door to the lounge.

"No way!" he hissed to the still grinning Russian.

"Then I'm afraid you'll have to ask him yourself," Boris whispered right back while closing the door behind them. "Go talk to Kai and tell him what you want. I'm sure he has _some_ ideas, since he made you come here, after all," he said with a wink that's meaning was lost to Rei who felt a pair of eyes on him. As he glanced to the occupants already there, he couldn't tell who had been the one making the chills run down his back as _everyone_ seemed to be looking at them.

Rei looked at Kai for a moment, and then sighed. There was a funeral coming and the man already had his hands full with the estate and other business. And now Rei was going to bother him a bit more? The Chinese boy felt his heart sink at the thought.

"Is something wrong, Rei?" Kai asked when they sat down.

"Oh, no, nothing's wrong," the neko-jin assured hastily. "Just a lot on my mind, that's all."

The conversation was abruptly halted at Yuriy stood up, looked at them with a blank expression and marched out of the room. Everyone exchanged questioning glances but no one knew what had gotten to the Russian companion. _'Just when I thought that I might ask Yuriy as well, about being a companion,' _Rei thought to himself, and turned reluctantly towards Kai.

"Hey, Kai…" was all that Rei got out before the dinner was announced to be ready. Immediately he rose from his seat and moved to the dining room but then a hand stopped him.

"Rei, you were saying something," Kai prompted him while holding them back in the lounge.

"Ah, forget it, it's nothing important," Rei tried to brush it off but he really wasn't good at lying.

The hand on Rei's arm tightened its hold. "Nothing you say is unimportant. Tell me," Kai insisted. The boy hesitated for a while but after thinking about it, he really wanted to do something for Kai, so he had no other choice but to ask. He had already raised the subject after all.

"Well, there is something I want to talk to you about, Kai, but it can wait. Let's go to eat now and I'll tell you later, okay?"

"Really?" Kai asked, a little dubious.

"Yeah, of course. But maybe not tonight, I think it'll take a while. Let's say tomorrow morning. Is that a good time?"

"Mm… Sure."

"Okay, we'll talk about it tomorrow, then. But let's go to eat now, I'm starving!" Rei announced, exaggerating near-starvation. Well, he had only eaten breakfast and the small snacks earlier and it was already pretty late in the evening. Maybe he wasn't exaggerating that much.

The dinner was a relatively pleasant affair. Rei had no idea that the Hiwatari dinners were usually very quiet and subdued, and none of them had the heart to point this out. Not that anyone seemed to mind much since after some coaxing, Rei had managed to join them all to the conversation, one way or another, for just a moment or for longer periods of time. Kai felt (again) unexpectedly relaxed, but kept sending hostile glances towards his father, who in turn ignored them.

Rei, on the other hand, was having the time of his life. Now that he knew everyone and felt comfortable around them, he couldn't wait to listen to different stories about travels or point of views on the world's matters. He was especially keen on listening Takao, since they hadn't met for such a long time, but also favoured Lai and Mao. For some reason Yuriy wouldn't talk to Boris and seemed to strictly refrain from taking part on the conversation for more than a few minutes. But there was one person he didn't talk to at all. Even though the reason was simple; he didn't know who she was.

When the discussion continued to flow without him, Rei finally yielded to his curiosity and leaned to quietly talk to Kai.

"Who is that woman sitting at the table?"

Kai glanced mightily disinterested at the person in question and replied, "Hiwatari Elena."

It took a moment for the neko-jin to connect the dots.

"She's your mother?!" Rei hissed in surprise. "When did she come back? Did you talk to her already? Where was she?" he continued with great curiosity. Kai halted in his movements and regarded his companion for a while. Then he sighed and set his cutlery on the table.

"She was with father in China; naturally, she came back today with father, and no, I haven't talked to her."

Rei frowned slightly. "Why? Don't you want to?"

"Not particularly," Kai replied and picked up his cutlery again. The Hiwatari heir tried to get back to eating but irritably noticed that Rei's aura of concern and confusion was disrupting his appetite. Sighing again he caught the neko-jin's interest that had been wandering over to his mother, and decided to elaborate a little.

"We don't get along very well, so we try not to get in each other's way. Or rather, I avoid her, because I know that I can't stand her personality. She could care less; that's just the way she is."

"What's wrong with her personality?" Rei wondered.

"She's the perfect wife, almost the definition of Yamato Nadeshiko," Kai snorted, scoffing at the woman on the other side of the table. "She's got her part right down the dot: Always following my father and taking care of his needs, never complaining about anything. Being the perfect, quiet little host, the beautiful flower at my father's side. She's detestable," the man spat out. Rei was stunned at the hatred Kai showed about his own mother. The Russian man realized how harsh he had been and his expression softened slightly for Rei.

"Don't let it bother you, Rei. She's always been like that," Kai explained but the Chinese boy still looked worried.

"But doesn't it bother _you_?" Rei persisted. This surprised the other one who had never been asked that. No one ever _cared_ what he thought. And now someone did…

"Yes, it does bother me," Kai confessed. "But it's been too long; I can't make myself care anymore. I'm just glad to be the first-born, I guess," he commented.

"How so?" the boy asked, intrigued.

"She refuses to have more children. That's why I'm an only child."

"_Refuses_ to have more?" Rei echoed.

"I'm not sure what it entails in total but I know that if she does get pregnant, she terminates it with the doctors. Daitenji-sensei told me," he explained. "Well, she's done her part and given an heir for the family so that's that, I would imagine. Now she can just enjoy the life of luxury," Kai commented sarcastically.

They both watched her for a while, lost in their thoughts.

"Sometimes I do wonder," Kai continued quietly after a pause.

"About what?" Rei asked quickly, intrigued.

"What would it be like to have a mother." After that, the man returned for his food and Rei's attention was drawn away as Boris wanted to ask him something. It turned out that the Russian man was trying to get Rei to explain what they had been whispering about, in some weird cipher, but the boy pretended not to realize this.

The rest of the dinner continued on without any disturbances, save for Yuriy marching out of the dining hall after he had eaten. Again everyone looked surprise and Rei was even a little worried. Boris seemed to feel the same way as he quickly excused himself and went after the redhead.

As they moved towards the study where it was customary for the men to have a smoke and a glass or two of something to drink, Mao excused herself along with her brother, Takao and Max. Rei assumed that the travelling had taken its toll on them. He was also a bit tired but persisted for a while longer to be able to spend some extra time with his father. Mostly he just listened to their conversation as he was too exhausted to participate actively. Kai faired a lot better, probably because he hadn't woken up as early as the neko-jin. Not too soon Rei had to say good-bye to his father and excuse himself. He didn't want to cause the amused smile on his companion's face to widen any more at his attempts of hiding yawns.

Surprisingly, Kai was courteous enough to escort him to his tower and even wished him a good-night. It was then that Rei stopped to wonder how much the man had changed. The Hiwatari heir was now so polite and helpful and open with him that one couldn't almost recognise him as the same man. Briefly the neko-jin contemplated what had brought forth this change, but then shrugged it off. It wasn't like it had anything to do with him, so why bother mulling over it?

* * *

Sorry for the shortness. It's just such a good place to stop. More action on the next one! This was kind of an interlude of some sorts. But the next one… uh-oh, there's something wrong with Yuriy (again) and Rei gets to deal with the consequences (again)!

Yamato Nadeshiko – The ideal woman in Japan: quiet, obedient and beautiful. Lives only to make her husband happy.


End file.
